5 more must have tips to a good budget

Budgets are not prison sentences!

I hope that you are making some progress towards making and using your financial budget, to remove yourself from debt or at least protect yourself from falling into debt! The first 5 tips are designed to get you underway, this next five is directed towards refining your skills at producing and utilizing the whole financial method for making life better for you and your family.

You get to see that a budget doesn't have to be like a prison sentence but more like a friend guiding you in the principles of good money management! Once you see it that way and understand why, then the process will work even better for you. So persevere with your budget and the rewards will come. Lets get down to the next 5 more must have tips to a good budget then.

• TIP 1. As has already been said review your budget each month. In the first few weeks I would strongly recommend you do it weekly just to try and get a grip on it and be fully aware of what you are doing. Do this for the first month every 2 weeks for the second then monthly and you will be fine. Set aside one particular day of the Month (week to start) and spend a little time just to make sure you are up to date and see if anything need changing. Check your income versus your expenditure and see where you stand. Make the necessary alterations for example if a utility bill was higher than expected say because of cold weather your heating bill was more than expected. The important thing to remember is that the budget MUST balance. It's of absolutely no use to just increase your spend or you will get nowhere. So you might need to cut back somewhere while the budget rebalances itself. A handy tip that I use is to put a copy of the budget as detailed earlier in the previous tips, somewhere that I will see it several times daily, not to read but just to remind yourself that it's there and its purpose. The reason for these 5 more must have tips to a good budget is to keep you away from debt!

 

• TIP 2. This is a good one...make sure that you pay yourself first! You should hopefully have planned to be able to set some money aside, to invest (hard in these times) or just in reserve for the unexpected. Do what the tax offices always do and have first claim over that money. You can have it deposited directly into an account if you want or go and bank it yourself. This creates a very useful habit later on of investing your money and you will always do it to your advantage.

 

• TIP 3. Set yourself targetted short-term goals. In other words when you have say a particular debt of; lets say 2,000, and your aim is to have it paid off in 2 years ( this might have been done in conjunction with the credit card company, so the amounts might be different but the priciples will be the same) divide the principle, 2K, by 24 and you will have to allow for approx 84 a month for that particular debt. The target of 84 is a lot less frightening than 2,000 and you will be able to achieve it much more easily. What this means is that you can accomplish  this goal along with all the others each and every month, giving you much more satisfaction and reducing your debt at a manageable rate. That's great news because you can instantly see the pogress you have made, well done! So what next?

 

• TIP 4. So you have done well and reached your short term there is no reason then not to reward yourself for attaining it. This is the time to give yourself something back, for doing well, indulge yourself, take a meal out of a takeaway in, buy a great movie on DVD, whatever you fancy but just please make sure you can afford it. Don't go crazy! Keep it small and you will appreciate it more than going on a spending bonanza then finding your next month is way over budget! Personally I like to buy a specilist interest magazine or a music CD or better still search out an old vinyl record of one of my favorite artists, I won't tell you who other wise you won't respect what I am writing you! So what I am saying here is that a budget is not a prison sentence, but just a means of planning and running your fiancial life in a more orderly fashion, part of that is being able to enjoy it, knowing that success is there and the future looks brighter as every month passes.

 

• TIP 5. Finally to make all of the above and previous 5 tips for creating an effective fiancial budget to work you need the right attitude. Your approach to this will make it or break it. I know the first time I tried to do it I blew out after only two months. I nearly lost everything it was when I could see it coming I realized how stupid I had been and started dagain with a new budget using the tips you have read and it has changed my life so much for the better. Setting a budget is akin to starting a diet you hope it will work but because you don't have the right attitude to it and haven't set yourself any goals (lose 2 lbs a week for example, which is achievable) you fail to lose weight, so you give up and look for something else to satisfy tour desires. By budgeting sensibly and recognising that all plans need to be regularly modified to take into consideration any changed circumstances, whilst keeping in mind your overall goals, you will succeed but of even more significance is the fact that you will have planned to succeed rather than  fail (the saying "If you fail to plan - you're planning to fail") and that will give you enormous pleasure and satisfaction, it will be worth it.

By giving you these tips to follow I hope you have the success I did. The key to your success is two fold attitude and action get those right and you will attain your budget goals. I you just follow your heart you will fail, simple. Follow reason and you will succeed! I hope that these 5 more must have tips to a good budget are a good help to you. Good luck.. you deserve it and by following these tips to a successful budget you are not just trusting to luck, you have control, keep up the good work.

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