We all know we need to make a budget. And double-duh to the truism that a budget is a type of plan. And yet even more duh to this one – anybody who doesn’t have a plan in life is bound to failure.
So why do we find it so hard to make a budget? What’s the biggest problem?
In fact, we are the ones making our budgeting more complicated without having to. They go to the bookstore and buy all the books they can on personal budgeting. These people invest in money tracking software even before trying out the demo. They go on the Internet and register themselves on an online budgeting website. By then they have spent so much time preparing to do a budget, that they don’t have time to do a budget!
Don’t fall into that complicated budget trap. The key to a lot of things is simplicity, and that includes planning a successful budget. How can you keep your budget simple?
Your starting point would either be a piece of paper or a blank spreadsheet on OpenOffice, MS Excel or any similar program. For each time you get paid, create a column or separate tab. You read it here first – you want to create a column for each and every paycheck!) So that’s basically one column per week if you get paid on a weekly basis. Remember that the goal here is to achieve simplicity, so you don’t want to stuff more than one month of columns in one page.
So you’re probably like, hey there, wait a minute, Mr. Budget Man! Is it really possible to place my rent on my budget once a week if I only pay it once a month? Here’s how. Using $1,000 monthly rent as an example (remember, we’re trying to keep it simple), that means you will have to budget $250 worth of rent money per week. You can even go up to your landlord and say, “hey, Mr. Landlord, how’s about if I pay you rent once a week instead of monthly?” You can still pay your rent monthly if that’s what floats your boat. The bottom line is, if you deposit your rent money once a week in your bank account, there will still be enough in there for you to pay your rent once the landlord comes moseying along to your unit.
If you budget by the week, and pay by the week, your life will be simple. No longer would you have to keep fretting and pulling your hair out thinking of how you could come up with weekly rent money, for it will already be set aside conveniently. No stress, no worries, because the secret to successful budgeting is keep it simple!
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