A good budget provides way more freedom than most people realise.
Making the statement, “I don’t have enough money” without knowing what “enough” looks like, is a hard place to make progress from.
But if you take the time to write down your income and expenses and discover you’re $100 short, now you’ve got something you can get to work on.
The statement, “I need to find $100 per week” has meaning and provides purpose.
I volunteer as a CAP Money Coach for Christians Against Poverty and when it comes to balancing a budget, there are lots of creative ways to increase income and/or reduce expenses.
When it comes to lowering expenses, there are three options: cutting costs, cutting back, and cutting out.
Cutting costs is getting the same thing but paying less – i.e., shopping around for better deals on your utilities, insurance, etc. A student told me this week about how she bundled her broadband, mobile, and power with one provider and saved $700 per year.
Cutting back is about still doing something but not as often – i.e., takeaways every fortnight instead of every week. Takeaways every week may cost you $2000 a year, reduce that to every second week and you’ve just saved $1000!
Cutting out is stopping something altogether – i.e., subscriptions. Cancelling an unused gym membership could save you $800+ a year.
As you work through your budget worksheet, scan each expense, and ask yourself “Can I cut costs/cut back/cut out?”
Doing this simple exercise is often a surprisingly painless way of bringing your budget right side up. And the only cost is a bit of time.
Photo by Towfiqu barbhuiya on Unsplash
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