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budgeting can be simple or complex. you may be using this tool to start efficiently saving, or to budget your spending. to get us started heres a list of terms you need to understand - fixed expense: a set amount due at a set time to create a monthly budget you will need: your net income and your fixed expenses today i'm going to be sharing all of my favorite budgeting and saving tips! SAVE THOSE FIVES five dollar bills. not too big and not too small, meaning you can always use something in replacement of them. if you're a person who gets paid in cash or transfers checking to cash, SAVE THOSE FIVES. put them away into a safe, an envelope or a wallet. every time you get change from a twenty dollar bill or when you get paid, put it away. it will seem unimportant at the time, "it's just five dollars", but in six to twelve months it adds up fast. i used this trick last year when i nannied and babysat all summer, and in one summer i saved up $200 CASH ENVELOPE SYSTEM for personal monthly budgeting this is more for people with fixed incomes and fixed payments needing help with balancing. start by transferring your paycheck to cash, for this example we're going to use your monthly income as 1,500 next, buy some envelopes and begin to label them with your fixed payments such as rent (600), car insurance (70), car payment (150), phone bill (80), cable/music/netflix (60) and continue into your flexible payments such as groceries (50-100), shopping (100), outings with friends (40). whatever is left over, put into savings :) heres a really good video that goes further in depth: https://youtu.be/q3eSFmDHsVg SHOP ON A BUDGET this is my FAVORITE to do and i'm so excited for my next post because it's going to be dedicated to how to shop on a budget! nowadays there are SO many secondhand stores or discount stores. my local city has a marshall's, tjmaxx, home goods, ross dress for less, and my personal favorite, PLATO'S CLOSET. all of these stores have high brand items for low prices... how can you beat that? CUT THE CREDIT not saying never use your credit or debit card, but we alllllll know how dangerous it is to use your card. using your credit card makes it chronically easier to spend more money on accident. again, try getting your pay check transferred to cash and use that when shopping, it'll make you think twice before going up to pay. SAVE FOR SOMETHING i know right, seems pretty pointless to sit here and tell you to save save save and now im telling you to spend. but saving money when you have something in mind to save for will really be your motivation to save quicker. if you really want to benefit though, double it. for example, apple airpods are $160. so before you allow yourself to purchase them, save $320 that way you get the airpods and also save while doing it. HUNDREDS RULE this one is super simple for trying to save fast. whatever you paycheck is for the two weeks, put the hundreds amount into savings, and make the leftover amount last for spending money for the time period. for example if your paycheck is $587 dollars, put $500 into savings and use the $87 for your spending money for the next two weeks. DONT TOUCH IT put your money into your savings account and don't touch it. once it's in there, try to leave it as long as you can. use a separate checking account for fixed payments you know that you have. i hope at least one of these will help each of you budget or save; if you try out any of these tips leave me a comment! |