We all start the New Year with the best intentions; whether we vow to stick to being more on time, or promise to give our best friend a call more often. But, it seems that no matter how hard we try, our best intentions always seem to falter after the few weeks.
And, I bet there’s one ‘best intention’ that we’d all love to see right to the end; that good old thing called budgeting. Because, we all know that by keeping all of our finances in check, we can contribute to a much more financially successful year.
Well, with your first paycheck of 2013 just around the corner, now couldn’t be a more perfect time to implement that best intention once and for all. And, here are a few tips that’ll help you to do it successfully:
1. Keep All Of Your Receipts
One problem that many looking to budget often run into is the fact that they often quickly lose track of their budgeting completely. As we all use our debit cards several times a day to pay for items, or to withdraw money from the cashpoint, it can be hard to remember exactly what money we’ve taken out and when. So, a good tip is to simply keep all your receipts and carefully go through them at the end of each week, so you can accurately calculate them into your budget. This will make sure all your numbers correctly add up and highlight if you’re budget has stuck on track or if you’ve gone a little AWOL…
2. Use Cash
It’s too easy these days just to get your debit card out and pay for all of your everyday items with it – gone are the days of just using it to pay for larger items; now, many of us can even use it to pay for a loaf of print or pint of milk down the local shop. It’s no wonder that your whole budgeting schedule goes flying out the window – you can’t keep track of it all!
So, aside from making sure you keep all your receipts as mentioned above in order to keep on top of what you spend, another good tip is to withdraw a set amount of cash at the start of the week and only use that to buy things. That way, you can see exactly what money you have tospend, and what money you don’t.
3. Factor in Savings
Often when we’re budgeting, it seems that many of tend to focus all our attentions on the money that comes in and the money that goes out, rather than the money that’s already there.
Saving is a great way to make sure your budget stays on track and will undoubtedly contribute to making a more financially successful 2013. So, when you receive your January wage next week, take a good chunk of it and pop it into a savings account – and keep it there! Saving a little bit of money every month can act as a great financial buffer for any unexpected financial problems that might crop up throughout the year. We all know what it feels like when the car decides to break down or if the boiler decides to pack in, and it’s these scenarios that often throw our budgeting plans off completely.
