Tips on Creating a Budget
It’s a great idea to create a budget. I think it’s something that most people need that they don’t have.
The best thing to do is look at your historical spending. Pull out your last 3 months worth of debit card statements, credit card statements and get 3 month worth of receipts and analyze it. Where did our money go? You may be shocked. You may find out that you spend $1,000 a month eating out. Maybe you need to cut that area back.
Just by simply writing it down and putting it in front of you, and so “ok, over the last 3 months we’ve averaged X amount of money on food and eating out, and X amount on cable and internet.” Then you can really get an idea of are you pleased with where the money went.
Because really, budgets are more about changing habits. It’s about making a commitment to change your spending habits by restricting certain areas. You’ve got to make choices because it’s always give and take, if you want to spend less you’ve got to give something up, so where are you willing to give up?
These are the types of decisions a budget will help you make.
Tune in to The Kane Show every morning to catch the Money Minute with Robert Palmer.
