Search Results for: blog finding and plugging the leaks in your budget

One Category a Month

When it comes to your budget, there is almost always room for improvement. If you are just starting out then you may have several areas to work on. If you have been budgeting for a few years you may find that you are starting to become slack in a few areas. One way to easily reevaluate your budget on a regular basis is to take a look at one category a month to see if you need to make any adjustments. This approach is great because it helps you stay focused on the bigger picture of your money goals, while … Continue reading →

Budgeting Time Savers

One reason many people hate budgeting is because it is time consuming. It can take an hour to balance your checkbook each month, especially if you can’t find the one mistake that you made. It is more difficult than just balancing your checkbook, since you need a constant running total of what you have spent where. It usually falls on the shoulders of one spouse, who then becomes resentful about having to deal with it all the time. While the initial planning and setting up of your budget may take awhile (sorry there is no way around it), here are … Continue reading →

New Year’s Resolutions: Is Your New Budget Working?

It is nearing the end of the month. If you started the new year off with a new budget, then this should be the second month on your budget. The first month is really when you work out the kinks, and figure out where you need to adjust the numbers to make a realistic budget. The second month is the one where you get to see if you really can stick to a budget. So did it work for you? Did you have any other problem areas? You could consider using cash in those areas. It is important that if … Continue reading →

Five Tips to Help You Stop Using the Credit Cards

Have you told yourself that you need to stop using the credit cards, but find yourself pulling them out anyway? Each month you promise yourself that you are going to start paying back the cards, but then find your balance steadily increasing? Here are five tips to help you stop using those cards. 1) The best way to stop yourself is to stop carrying the cards with you. If you do not feel safe without a credit card (to pay a tow truck or to handle a similar emergency) then carry one with a very small limit, so you will … Continue reading →

New Year’s Resolutions: Evaluating Your New Budget

It is the end of the month, and time to evaluate your budget. Did you manage to stick to your budget? Were there areas that needed some adjusting? Is there a category that you went way over the amount you had planned? If you really want to stick to your New Year’s Resolution of sticking to a budget, sitting down now and tweaking the budget is really the key to be successful. Here are five things to consider as you tweak your budget. 1) Are there specific areas that you underestimated the cost of the category? Many people struggle with … Continue reading →

Are You an Over Spender?

Are you an over spender? Do you have difficulty sticking to a budget? Or do you have a hard time knowing where you spend your money? Are you surprised at the balance in your account every time you go to an ATM? Do you frequently pay overdraft charges and wonder why you never have enough money? It may be that you make enough money that you feel like you shouldn’t have to worry about what you are spending, but if you answered yes to any of the above questions, then you have a spending problem. It is important that you … Continue reading →

Budget Strategies: 5 Tips to Help You Stick to Your Budget

You sat down wrote out your budget and you have your financial goals in front of you. Theoretically, you should be able to reach them by the end of the year, if you stick to your budget. But every time you are out, you are faced with the temptation to spend just a little bit more than you had planned on. It doesn’t seem like that ten dollars will hurt anything, right? It is only ten dollars. But do that several times and you’ve gone and blown the budget. Here are some tips to keep you motivated to stick to … Continue reading →

Finding and Plugging the Leaks in Your Budget

Do you have a leak in your budget? You have sat down and assigned amounts to each category. You are doing great and should have a couple of hundred dollars left over every month. But when you come to the end of the month, the money that should have gone into savings is gone and you may owe money on your credit card. If this is happening, your budget has sprung a leak! So what can you do to find the leak and fix it? First you need to find the leak. It is important to track your spending through … Continue reading →