I’m probably the only person in the world excited to do my budget. I feel such a liberating feeling when I complete my budget at the beginning of every month because I know I have saved money for my early retirement goal, taken care of my bills, and put money aside for things I like to do. I always allocate some of my funds to online shopping because I love shopping. This way, I can indulge in my purchases guilt-free and attain a sense of contentment, knowing that I have met my goals for saving and investing.
A budget is part of a written plan and a way to organize your finances. Let’s be honest, how many of you have missed payment deadlines, racked up fees, and spent more than you earn? This is due to a lack of organization. Our finance is one of the most essential parts of our life, so we must treat it as such. With the correct finance organization tools, such as a budget template or app, it only takes a few minutes daily to put your finances in order.
Print any of my free templates to help you stay on track and motivate you! For instance, you can print the saving goal tracker and put it in the picture frame by your computer desk or where you can see it daily. Use a dry eraser marker to write on top of the frame’s glass. As you save, you will see the number growing, and that will motivate you.
Why should you use a budget?
A budget is a plan for your money that helps you cover your needs and reach your financial goals. It gives your money direction of where you want it to go, meaning, and purpose. We want to be wise when deciding how to spend our money because we trade the most valuable asset of our life to make it, which is our time.
Using this budget template, write down all your monthly expenses and subtract the total from your monthly income. At this point, you will know if you are spending more than you bring home. Whatever the case may be, try to create a margin so that you can save and invest. Investing is crucial for wealth building. We want our money to work for us instead of sitting in a bank account.
Benefits of a budget
Creating a budget is a well-structured plan that enables you to manage your finances effectively and take charge of your spending. Additionally, it offers various benefits such as:
It can keep you from overspending.
It is so easy to overspend; I know this very well. However, as adult individuals, we must do better. We cannot stay on the hamster wheel forever, where we always work but never achieve anything meaningful. Let’s track our spending, so we can stay on top of our finance and manage it according to our goals and dreams. A budget will help you do just that!
It helps you work toward your goals.
A budget is part of a plan to achieve your goals. By creating a budget, you can follow a path for where you need to go to get your goal. Perhaps, you want to buy a house or become financially free.
It helps you save for emergencies.
It allows you to create financial stability for yourself and your family. Having cash reserved for emergencies is wise as it gives you a safety net in case of unexpected events. Additionally, having savings set aside specifically for discretionary expenses can allow you to take risks and explore new opportunities.
Help you save for retirement.
We must save money for retirement regardless of whether we plan to retire early. I know many people counting on the government to take care of them in retirement, and I think this is wrong. Your retirement is your responsibility, so take charge of it. Set money aside at least 10 to 15 percent of your monthly income and invest it in a retirement account. Prioritizing this in your budget is a must. If saving is not feasible now, make it a goal for the near future.
