Budgeting: THE BASICS

You control your destiny — you don’t need magic to do it. And there are no magical shortcuts to solving your problems.
– Merida; Brave

NERD-ALERT

I love budgeting. It is probably the one “adulting” activity I enjoy. If you checked out my About Me page, you would know I went to school for Accounting. I have been told that my love for budgeting is because of my career choice… not quite sure that is true. Either way, it does not change my budgeting joy.

What’s the Fuss?

We, young adults, need to be smart with our money because EVERYONE wants it.

Budgeting is a great tool in helping create a plan for our money. It is also a great habit to create in our lives. We grow up saying “I do not want to live paycheck to paycheck”, but our actions say something different.

The Basics

Budgets are all about laying out all your expenses (spending) on the table alongside all your income(s) (money). It seems pretty self-explanatory, but there are 3 things to consider:

Be honest with yourself – NO ONE is looking at your budget besides you; so be truthful about your expenses
Be generous with yourself – FUN MONEY is always required! If you do not allow yourself some “fun money”, you are setting yourself up for failure.
Be realistic with your estimates – It is better to overestimate than underestimate in regards to budgeting

The Best Type of Budget…

…is the budget that fits you! If you don’t budget in a way that fits your needs or personality, you will probably avoid it. Start off simple, as you get more comfortable and consistent, and then start getting more precise and detailed.

Personally, I do a zero-based budget. I give every dollar an assigned expense; this includes my “fun money”. I also format my budget based off my pay period on a yearly basis. My zero-based budget gives me the ability to make changes when life happens; holiday, birthdays, trips, etc.

Here to Help

There is so much information out in the world wide web about budgeting; or anything related to anything. To help with this, I am including some sites that might be worth your time:

Eat Money Blog has a post called 7 Types of Personal Budgets. This post gives some additional information about each type of budget and can help determine which one could work best for you!
Dave Ramsey has a blog post called 15 Practical Budgeting Tips that can assist in creating your budget! He also has additional finance related blog posts and a podcast called The Dave Ramsey Show.

*Fun Fact: I recently discovered the podcast and even though I do not agree with all the shared information, I continue to listen and learn about others perspective!

Wrap This Up

I know this is not the most exciting topic, BUT IT IS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT. If we do not want to gripe about money, we have to take responsibility of our money! So, send me your questions, check out the above blog posts, and dig deep into your finances and make a plan that fits you!

Until next time…