It does not matter if you are rich, middle class or what your current monetary status is, you need a budget that you follow daily, to handle your money better.
If you have been thinking about creating a budget for your household, but thought maybe it was too much work, you need to think again.
Without a budget, managing your money properly can be virtually impossible.
Perhaps you think that you do not make enough money to think about a budget, or perhaps you think that financially things seem to be going well for you, so why start a budget now.
There are so many important reasons why you want to start and follow a budget, such as tracking your spending habits, limiting overspending and saving money.
While a budget can be effective for everyone, there are certain signs you can look for that indicate that not only should you start a budget, but you need to start a budget immediately.
Here is a look at three ways to help you determine if you need to set up a budget for your household.
You are Living Week To Week
If you find yourself barely able to cover all of your expenses from one pay week to the next, you should definitely need a budget.
Just to confirm this, ask yourself some basic questions:
Are you able to pay all of your bills on time?
Do you have enough money through the month to cover all of your basic needs, such as housing, insurance, food and clothing?
Do you have a firm understanding of where all of you money goes during the month?
If you said no to any of these questions, you need a budget.
A budget will help you to identify where you are spending every month. You will be able to clearly see why you are barely getting by, and why you are counting the days to your next pay day.
A budget may help you spend less, and save more. It will help you plan better and make wiser purchasing decisions. It can also hold you accountable to tracking the money you have coming in and going out of your bank account each month, which can prevent you from overspending.
You Have No Emergency Saving Fund
Financial counsellors always recommend that people have at least three to six months of the wages sitting in a reserve account.
This extra savings can be very useful if you are ever injured, lose your job, have a serious injury or have a large unexpected expense.
If you do not have this safety net in place for your finances, then you need a budget. Even if you think you are doing okay financially, but still have not established a safety net for yourself, this is a clear sign that you need to track your spending on a regular basis. This will help you plan how to spend your money better, so you are able to save a little bit more money each month and build up your emergency fund.
You Do Not Have a Retirement Plan
The final step in making careful financial decisions is to make sure that you have established a retirement plan for your future.
You will not be working for the rest of your life and the earlier you start planning and following a budget, the more money you will be able to set aside.
Of course, you can count on your Old Age Pension, but will this be enough to provide the lifestyle you want during your retirement years?
The more money you save today, the more you will have access to for your retirement years when you may need to get by on less income.
Creating and maintaining a budget is not as difficult as you may think. After several months of tracking where you spend your money, it will simply become a habit for you. Be sure to take a look at your budget on a monthly basis and see if you need to make some adjustments. Starting a budget is oftentimes the first step to financial freedom.
