It is the end of the month, and time to evaluate your budget. Did you manage to stick to your budget? Were there areas that needed some adjusting? Is there a category that you went way over the amount you had planned? If you really want to stick to your New Year’s Resolution of sticking to a budget, sitting down now and tweaking the budget is really the key to be successful. Here are five things to consider as you tweak your budget.
1) Are there specific areas that you underestimated the cost of the category? Many people struggle with the groceries and entertainment categories. You may need to use more self-discipline when it comes to things like entertainment and spending money, but you may find that you need to adjust your grocery amount to a more realistic number for yourself.
2) Now that you have done this for a month, are there any fixed expenses that you could change? Can you cut back on the number of channels you subscribe to, so that you have extra movie to go out on the weekends? Can you cut back your cell phone plan? Is there anyway to cut back on your utility bills?
3) Don’t forget that some of your categories should roll over into next month’s budget as well. This includes categories like gifts, clothing, auto repairs and maintenance. It is important that you do not eat thing money up by switching it around to other categories. It is important to build this money up because when you do spend in these categories it can be quite expensive.
4) Don’t be discouraged if you had a hard time sticking to your budget. It is important to make some adjustments and then try again. Switching to the envelope system can really help as you make the adjustment to living on less money for the year.
5) Be sure to sit down and do this with your spouse. If there are drastic changes that will affect your children you will need to talk to them about it as well.
Related Articles:
Finding and Plugging the Leaks in Your Budget
Budget Strategies: The Envelope System