There is no better time than January to take a good hard look at your budget … or if you don’t have one, to set up a budget.
If you have been just flying by the seat of your pants, this can be a daunting task. Actually, it can be quite scary. But, let’s make it simple €“ just the basics and nothing fancy.
1. Start with a sheet of paper – don’t even bother with a spreadsheet or the like, and certainly don’t pay for software. Just a simple sheet of paper. If you want to get fancy, make it lined.
2. Write out all of your monthly bills: cable, house, insurance, doctors, credit cards, etc. Anything that you pay every month is going to go on the list. When you have finished, find your total.
3. Figure out how much you bring in monthly. If you are an hourly employee, I suggest averaging your best month with your worst month.
4. Hopefully, you are bringing in more than you are spending. If not, then you need to find areas to shave off money.
5. From there, write out the dates that each bill is due. You can develop a spreadsheet or whatever you need to do to be able to check off when payments have been made.
It’s not rocket science, but it is a good way to get started. Before you can dig into the depths of developing and living by a budget – you have to be able to track your monthly spending. But, I believe that paying bills on time and visually seeing that done is the first step for many people.
I challenge anyone living day-to-day to take the initiative to set up a simple budget. I’ll write more in the coming weeks on how to go beyond it, but for now – let’s just start simple!
€¦ remember, there’s no cents in paying full price! But to figure out how much you NEED to save as a family to live a debt-free life, you have to first set a goal of how much you can (or can’t) spend each month!
* This post is part of a weekly segment on KSBJ Christian Radio. For more on segments featuring Stephanie Click, the Texas Money Mom, click here.
