Creating a budget can be an amazing first step to successfully becoming financially free. However, most people who create a budget never stick with it or find that it just isn’t working.
I have heard it many times: “I just can’t stick to my budget!“
Trust me, I have been there. I personally have probably created more then 20 different budgets for my household before I found one that works.😂
5 Things To Do Before Budgeting
Budgets can fail for many reasons, one being bad spending habits and another important factor is many don’t plan ahead before budgeting.
To save you the trial and error, here is my list of the 5 most important things you need to know or think about before budgeting.
When Should You Start Budgeting?
You should start a budget ASAP, but you should consider these 5 things before creating your budget because these could make or break it depending on if you consider these budgeting tips or not.
Here are the 5 secrets to sticking to your budget!
1. Be Realistic!
One of my main problems when I was creating my families budget is:
I wasn’t setting realistic goals!
To explain this further I am going to get a bit personal with you. My husband smokes😶 (GASPS, I know it is a horrible habit but extremely difficult to quit) and in my budget I way underestimated the cost, thinking he could:
A) Just quit or
B) Cut back drastically.
Well, of course that is easier said then done and it completely tossed our budget way off. Many of us have bad spending habits and this isn’t the only example:
- If you buy 5 coffee’s a day don’t budget for 1 a day, you are unlikely to actually stick with that.
- If you drive to the store often, or just like to cruise around, don’t put your gas budget at $20 a week.
I am not saying you personally cannot cut back on these things, just start small and if you do then BAM you have that extra cash you can use on something else!
You can cut back even more by checking out these 5 ways to save money even on a tight budget!
2. Watch for Small ‘insignificant’ purchases.
This was a very difficult one for me, I am what you would call an impulse buyer.😅 I had the mindset that spending a few dollars on this and that won’t effect my budget. You really need to watch what you are spending.
To help me I wrote down every small purchase I made for a week and seen first hand how it effected my budget. I wasn’t even including our daily coffee and this really adds up.
2 coffee
= $4.50 per day🙂
=$31.50 per week😏
=$126.00 per month😕
=$1,512 per year😮
You can see how one little thing can add up and have a huge impact on your budget.
3) Hidden Fees.
Dig deep into your accounts and figure out your daily limits and bank fees. If you have a limit on your transactions per month and you go over that by 15, that’s 15 @$1 per so now you are out $15 for that month.🙃
Also make sure you include your banking fees and watch out for those ATM withdrawals, some charge a fee to use.
Use Trim to help you fight bank fees, cancel subscriptions, negotiate bills and so much more! This nifty bot app is perfect for any busy parent!
4) Why Are You Budgeting?
You need to have some sort of motivation to be successful with your budget.🤔 The first time I created a budget I did it just for fun, because someone recommended it to me.
Naturally, I didn’t follow through and it got tossed aside. So sit down and dig deep, ask yourself why you are creating a budget?
It could be for savings, mortgage, or pay off debt? Whichever it is you have to really want it and are willing to sacrifice to achieve the goal.
5) Decide Where You Will Put It.
This may seem like a silly step but it really is important to see your budget everyday, it helps keep it fresh in your mind and to keep the motivation going.
Tossing your budget in a junk drawer will most likely mean you won’t be seeing that sucker for a while. Even just laying it on the counter, it could easily get thrown out or lost.
I recommend at least sticking it on the fridge or go all out and blow that budget up, stick in on your wall, make it hard to miss.
Not the type to flash your finances to friends and family? Make a binder and put it somewhere very noticeable and look through it at least once a day.
There you have 5 things to consider before budgeting! Once you have all those down you can start creating your budget and have the confidence to stick with it.
Still need help?