Several times over my twenty five year marriage I've tried to set a budget. Hubby and I both would sit down, get motivated, write down a bunch of numbers and set good intentions. At the end of the month we'd be surprised when our buget and our spending didn't match.
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Two Tools to get you Startedby Michelle Vandepas | More from this Blogger
Finally, we got a clue. Actually, we took a class that helped us see where we were going wrong and taught us how to budget. We were budgeting, but allowing ourselves to go over budget - just because we could. As soon as we got a few tools, we were able to force ourselves to stay within budget. This is great news for us because we actually have a lot more spending money now - and no credit cards bills. The two tools that helped us most are: Spending less than we earn: Yea I know this sounds like a fundamentally basic concept, but we routinely spent over our earnings, confident we'd catch up sometime in the future. I know we weren't alone. Many others do this as well, counting on bonuses, raises, second jobs to bail you out. If you spend more than you earn, STOP IT! Find a way to stay within your earnings. Then, after you've learned to only spend what you have, shave that spending down even a bit more and start saving. That's right, Saving. Now we save for everything not on our routine monthly expenditures: If it isn't our home or utilities or insurance payments we are probably saving for it. We save for short term items we want to buy - a pair of jeans, a new set of towels; and we save for long term items - vacations, a new car. We also save for our retirement, emergencies, fun evenings out. We save for everything instead of pre-buying on a credit card. Those two ideas have changed our whole attitude toward money and helped us get way ahead of most of our friends and peers. I encourage you to try it, and let me know how you do. Other Baby Steps Learn more about Michelle Vandepas  In a previous life, Michelle was president of a medical manufacturing company, and then in private practice as a holistic business consultant. Relevant money tags |
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