Budgeting
Creating a
Budget is the First Step on your way to gaining financial control and reaching
all you financial goals. If you do not have one and use it, start here FIRST!
Some of
the benefits you WILL enjoy include:
Building
a financial safety net or cash reserves to prevent financial disasters caused by
personal emergencies or tragedies. Tracking your day-to-day finances will
ultimately bring you to a more relaxed state of mind, flexibility and control to
enjoy the things you most enjoy doing. Deciding on and planning a course toward
short-term, intermediate, and long-term financial goals.
Why
Should I?
Gaining
control over your personal finances requires it.
Instead
of thinking of a tracking your expenses as financial handcuffs, think of it as a
means to achieve financial success. It does not matter how much you make, a
budget is the first and most important step you can take towards putting your
money to work for you instead of being controlled by it and forever falling
short of your financial goals. As you will see in later sections, knowing your
expenses and living within your means is the cornerstone of planning in all
cycles of your life. Tracking your expenses gives you a strong sense of where
your money goes and can help you reach your financial goals, whether they are
paying down debt (see our next section), starting a college fund for your
children (see our section on college education), planning for retirement (see
our retirement planning section), or saving for that trip once in a life time
trip to Europe.
Since
financial matters are one of the leading causes of marital discord and divorce,
getting a handle on your spending, implementing a budget, and saving for the
future can also have positive effects on your relationship with your spouse or
partner.
Should I
Use a Software Program?
You don't
need to invest in fancy software in order to do a budget, but a good software
program WILL make the job easier, and being able to print out graphs and reports
from your PC can serve as a motivation for entering all that data.
You may
be very surprised where your money is going.
The $
Adds Up...
Habit
Yearly Cost Daily Cup of Coffee $547/yr
1 Packs
of Cigarettes/Day $2555 - $3285/yr 1 Hardback & 3 Paperback Books/Mo. $690/yr
Lunch Take-out 5 days/wk @ $5-$10/day $1300 - $2600/yr 3 Drinks at a Bar/Wk.
$936 - $1092/yr 3 Six-packs of Beer/Wk. $624 - $936/yr
So let's
now discuss the mechanics behind creating a budget:
Now that
we know how to create a budget, how do we use it?
|
|
Looking for an answer to a specific financial question? Check
out our learning center or
contact us for a complimentary
consultation.
Are you an Individual? Learn more about
personal
financial planning.
Are you an employer? Learn more about
employee benefit solutions.
Are you a client-driven organization? Learn more about
member solutions.
 Are
you a religious organization? Learn more about our
ministry services.
Read
some of our newer financial planning articles and strategies.
"The right and wrong ways
to invest $20,000"
"Now is the time to talk money"
"Money can make us happy"
"Create your own stock
portfolio for less than a night at the movies"
We also have more articles
in our resources area.
Kick$start Your Financial Future Teleseminar!
Hear from three industry experts for 90 engaging minutes of great
financial content for only $15.00.
Read more.
Financial Planning
Insurance Planning
Retirement Panning
Investment Planning
College Education
Planning
Estate Planning
Small Business
Planning
Financial Education
Services |
