Home Buyer Articles & Advice

Yes, You Can Budget

Author's Note: This article is one lesson from the free email
course "Beginner's Guide To Budgeting"

There are several factors that contribute to budgets failing.
The most common is that people just don't want to change the
way they live and how they handle their money.

We get comfortable with the way we live and making a major
lifestyle change is something that scares most of us. But,
my friend, this is probably what it will take to get your
finances in order and keep them that way.

I can almost guess what you are thinking, "I'm done with this
article. This clown is trying to make me change everything and
I don't want to". Am I right?

This change doesn't have to be devastating. When you change the
way you think about your finances this change will be welcome.

The first and most important thing you have to do is to decide
what it is you want to do with your money. I'm talking about
setting your goals. When you have a goal that is really
important to you it is easier to do what's necessary to reach
that goal.

"That goal stuff is all fine and good but what if I can't even
pay my bills now? What good is a goal to me?" If you don't have
a goal there is little motivation to solve the problem.

We are working backwards here. You set your goal first (the
solution) and then work on how to get there (the problem).

Let me give you an example. You have a goal to be debt free
in the next 5 years. The problem is that you don't have enough
money now to pay your bills and put food on the table. This
seems like an impossible mission. If being debt free is really
important to you then you will find a way to make it happen.

Recently I received an email from a lady that wanted information
about what she could do to keep here bill collectors from
contacting her work and discussing her finances with her friends
and family. I won't go into details here but you can read the
case study by visiting:

http://www.homemoneyhelp.com/articles/takecontrol.html

This lady and her husband had car loans totaling over $1300 per
month. They voluntarily had these vehicles repossessed. This
action will have a devastating effect on their credit report,
however, I don't believe it will be quite as bad as having to
file bankruptcy.

This couple made a hard choice in order to reach their goals.
While you may not have to have anything repossessed, you are
still going to have to make hard choices. My point is that you
can do it if you try. This is just one example of how you can
budget even if you are behind on your bills.

There are many other things you can do if you are behind. One
of the best ways to get started is to contact your bill
collectors and see what arrangements can be made. You may be
surprised to find that these people are willing to work with
you to solve the problem.

How many times have you considered a purchase just to ask
yourself "Can I Afford This?". When you have a budget in place
this is a question that you won't need to ask. You will have
the numbers in front of you. If the payment is too much to fit
in your budget then the answer is No.

The time to start a budget is now. It doesn't matter whether
you are 18 or 65. Once you set up your budget and have it in
place for a couple of months you will start to realize that it
isn't difficult.

As with anything else there are basic guidelines that are
universally accepted. These vary somewhat depending on who you
talk to but the below percentages will get you close to what is
accepted.

What I am talking about is the percentage of your income (take
home pay) that you should allot for each category of your budget.
At Budget Stretcher I have broken this down to just 4
categories to make your budget experience as simple as possible.

Here are the percentages:

Housing - 30% of your take home pay. Housing costs cover your
rent or mortgage payment, taxes, etc.

Other Bills - 30% of your take home pay. This is the catch all
category that includes your regular bills excluding housing.
Your credit cards, utilities, loan payments, car payments,
insurance, etc. are all covered in this category.

Household Expenses - 30% of your take home pay. This is what
it takes to run your household. This includes groceries, car
gas and all the other stuff you have to pay for between paydays.

Savings - 10% of your take home pay. This is possibly the most
important of all of the categories. If you don't have a long
term and short term savings program it is going to be difficult
to solve any money problems you may have.

At least %5 of your take home pay should be used for short term
savings. This is very important because it is what is going to
cover any unexpected expenses that may pop up. This will prevent
the use of credit cards to cover these expenses.

Your short term savings should be kept in a savings account or
other savings program that will allow you to lay your hands on
it quickly. This isn't to say that you should use this when
money runs short at the end of the month.

You should also put aside at least 5% of your take home pay for
your long term savings. One day you will want to buy a house or
send the kids to college and this is the pot of money that is
going to accomplish that.

Even if you have a 401k or other retirement plan it is still a
good idea to put this money away. This money needs to be in an
account that will pay you the most interest without a lot of
risk.

Since I'm not an investment expert I won't even begin to make a
recommendation on where to invest this money. You will need to
consult a competent investment broker for this advice.

As you can see by the percentages above your budget is actually
as simple as 2+2. If your bills and expenses doesn't fit into
the recommended percentages then you need to work on it until it
does.

If you are like I was you can probably come up with a thousand
reasons why you can't budget your money. Either you have too
many bills, you are too far behind on those bills or you just
don't want to make the perceived sacrifices necessary to live
on a budget.

I'm not going to try to fool you into believing that there won't
be sacrifices. I am going to tell you that what ever sacrifices
you have to make will be well worth the effort.

Terry Rigg is the author of Living Within Your Means - The Easy Way http://www.homemoneyhelp.com/ebookadpage.html and editor of The FREE Budget Stretcher Newsletter and Budget Stretcher web site http://www.homemoneyhelp.com. He has 25 years of experience counseling individuals and families concerning their personal finances.

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