Tuesday, December 19, 2017 (Originally Posted: Friday, August 18, 2017)
Can’t stick to your budget? 9 Budget hacks
Welcome back to my final reflection on the week in Budget Boss. This week was all about budgets. Not the most fun topic I know but I hope there were some good tips and tools to help in your budgeting quest. I preach that the budget is the foundation of any successful financial plan. Makes sense right? All successful companies follow a dedicated budget. Countries try to follow a budget and the successful ones stay as close as possible to it. That leads me to today’s post. Why do people stray from their budgets once it is in place? It’s like going to the gym; you can’t just rock it every January. You have to live, breathe and believe in budgeting. Now, this is where people get turned off. They think their lives are going to drastically and negatively change over the long term. No fun, no parties, no vacations, no nothing. I am here to tell you that is not true. My goal is to show my clients that it is the budget that actually allows for you to do all the fun stuff, only this time with YOUR money! In this post, I will go over 9 tips for you to stay on budget and still do the things you want to do in life, only this time not by going into debt.
1) Savings is King!!
I said it before and I will say it again: You MUST save money every month. If you can’t right now because of life’s circumstances, (bad/no job, high debts, the high cost of living, etc.) then it has to be your top goal to save money in the future. It is savings that allow you to adjust your budget when you go over it. You borrow from yourself and not from the evil Mr. VISA. Everyone can save something, and I mean everyone. I have some clients that are putting away $50 a month into savings. Last year they were saving nothing and next year I will be on them to save more. That’s my job, but you have to do yours first.
2) If Savings is King, Cash is the Queen
Until the day they put a microchip in your arm with all your banking information in it, Cash will be King. There is a reason why cash is so important to any budget. It’s like Ed Norton says in the movie Rounders: “When the money’s gone, it’s time to move on.” You pay for life’s day to day expenses with cash and you limit yourself at that. I give myself $50 bucks a week spending cash for coffee’s, lunch and various spending. That doesn’t sound like much, and it isn’t, but I am always finding extra money come Friday. I still do what I want, when I want, I just use cash. The bills are paid, the savings are paid, the gods are happy. The rich stay rich by living like they are poor; the poor stay poor by living like they are rich. #Truth
3) Get everyone involved
If you have a spouse, make sure they are on the same page as you. If you have kids that are old enough to understand make sure they are on board too. Let your roommates know, let your friends know. If they react negatively then you know what’s up. It is important for those in your life to be on the same page as you so they don’t push the wrong buttons. You can’t have one spouse committed to living frugal and the other spending like their wallet is on fire. It won’t work so have the talk and get on the boat together. Most relationships end over money, don’t let yours be one of them.
4) F*** Debt
Sorry for my cursing, but debt will kill you, literally. Debt causes stress, stress causes health problems. You have to focus on being debt free. Not only that you have to focus on staying debt free. In my humble opinion, it is debt that is the greatest threat to the middle class in our beautiful country. Debt payments cripple your monthly cash flow. It affects how much you can save, how much you can spend and therefore how much enjoyment you can have in your life. Extreme hatred of debt should be your mantra, there is no other alternative. Nothing works in any financial plan if debt persists.
The Debt Dilemma – Our Generation’s War – Budget Boss
5) Track Your Spending
You can ask me how much I spend in every category and I will know with scary accuracy. Despite this fact, I still track my spending weekly, monthly, yearly. You have to know what you are doing to know what you can change, it’s just that simple. Use spreadsheets, scraps of paper or anything that works for you to keep track.
What is Budgeting and Why is it So Important – My Money Coach
6) Analyze your spending and adjust accordingly
Once you have tracked all your spending you need to always, and I mean always, find ways to cut spending. I always hear of people online who save 75% of their income. They live in a shoebox and eat at shelters. I don’t recommend this but you should find ways to be vigilant with your variable expenses. Cutting out one luxury a week will add up huge. Cutting out unnecessary fixed expenses adds up huge too. That unused gym membership, costly cable TV, lattes and gas station snacks really add up. I will choose an early retirement over a life of cafe lattes any day of the week and so should you.
7) Hide Money
You have to hide money far, far away from your cash burning hands. There is no point in having long-term savings if you use them for nonsense. There is no point in having an emergency fund if you use it for non-emergencies. If it takes you hiding money far away from you that you make disappear right when you get paid, do it. Everyone should have some what I call “Goodbye Money.” This is money that is gone before you touch it. You will never get ahead if you are using savings for day-to-day spending.
8) Bad habits will kill you, literally
I come from a family of smoker’s so I know all about it. I also used to enjoy the nightclubs and drank quite a few soda pops in my day as well. I know for a fact that the day I learned to have a good time without drinking my wallet became far happier. Our “sins” cost us our lives and sadly we pay for them too. Seems senseless right? Well, we all have battles in life. Some people smoke, some overeat, some drink, some gamble and some are shopaholics. All these vices will be supremely destructive to your health and your wallet. Define yourself on your terms, based on your victories, not your defeats.
12 Money Habits That Kill Your Freedom – Budget Boss
9) Flexibility is Key
“Budgets suck; I won’t be able to live the way I want. They are too rigid and strict.” Wrong! It is the budget that allows for flexibility. You go over budget and then determine why you went over. You see if the reason for going over is a necessity and then you take from an area that is not needed. Month after month the process is repeated and after a while, you got it down pat. You will be constantly introducing new items into the budget as time goes on. It is because of the budget that adding new items doesn’t break you. You know what is needed to move on and you adjust accordingly. You have to remember that a budget is a living breathing object and will constantly be changing.
Sticking to a budget is far more important than budgeting, to begin with. It is your dedication to using the budget that will make you successful. Your determination will be your strength. Budgeting and saving money is a lifelong pursuit. It is like working out and living healthy. You don’t get ripped from going to the gym for a few weeks and you don’t become rich from saving money for a few months.
Thanks for reading my post today as Greatest Hits of 2017 Week continues here at Budget Boss. Tune in tomorrow as we go over another one of my most popular posts of this year. If you need help crafting your own budget please don’t hesitate to email me at joe@budgetboss.ca. Have a great day Bosses!
“Never spend your money before you have earned it.” – Thomas Jefferson
Email – joe@budgetboss.ca
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