Lar's Top 3 Budget Tips

I love tips on anything that can make life easier. Whether the tips are home organization, cooking, time management, or even financial. Learning new tips or revisiting old ones makes growing and improving ourselves possible.

Since budgeting posts have been highly requested by my viewers, I'd like to share my top 3 budgeting tips.

Our family budget is an ever-changing area of our lives. However, these 3 tips are always part of our budgeting process. 

1. Before you make a budget. Write down everything!  I mean everything. 

Monthly--Groceries, gas, rent/mortgage, insurance, etc.

Other non monthly expenses--such as school fees, taxes (such as property), car renewal registration, etc.

Be realistic! For example, if you say, "We will eat in everyday" reality is you won't! So plan some money to set aside even if it's $15 to go to Taco Bell. 😉 If you don't use it great, then roll it over to the next month or put into your savings. We put our leftover entertainment/eating out money in a savings account called, "Get away". We use this for a romantic night away from home or extra special event such as a play or concert. 

By writing everything down, you can see reality in black and white and make decisions on your priorities: i.e. pay off debt, save for a house, or to build your savings.

2. Break the non-monthly items into monthly chunks. 

For example, car registrations come every year. We set a little aside each month and when it's time to renew the registration I transfer the money over and cut the check. We are no longer broke the month car renewals are due because we set a little aside each month. This was a game changer for me. So much stress was lifted by planning ahead. 

3. Make an emergency fund a top priority. 

Have a yard sale, work extra hours, whatever you can do to make extra money to set aside then do it!  The sooner you have this done the better you can stay in budget because if anything comes up you'll have the money to cover it. A minimum $1000 is a good amount. Some people prefer more but the point is to have the cushion.  

Once you get real with where your money is going; you can start looking at what is truly a need and what is really a 'want'. 

** Bonus Tip**  Life will throw us a curve ball once in a while and we need to adjust accordingly. Thats why I recommend looking over and tweaking your budget every 90 days. 

I hope you found this post helpful and that it inspires you to make your money work for you. A budget can be a very freeing thing. Like anything in life, a plan makes things less stressful.  

I will follow up with some other blog posts on some ways to make extra money and save on everyday things. Also I will do posts on Date night and Family outings on a budget. 

Anything I don't cover and you would like to see just let me now. You can comment or message me on any of my social media or shoot me a private message.

Thanks for your support and encouragement. I appreciate you!

Lar

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