Thinking about your financial situation can be daunting. Instead of focusing on figures like your credit score or your net worth as defining your financial situation, start thinking about your financial well-being as a way to feel secure about your financial future.
Your financial well-being is way more than just a number; your financial-well being represents your relationship with money. And like any meaningful relationship, it takes work. Here are some ways to budget and improve your financial well-being to improve your relationship with money.
Some utility or credit card companies allow you to set your own due date. By doing so,
you can ensure that your due dates line up with payday. This way you will never miss a
due date. That being said, put your bill due dates on your calendar! No matter how good
your memory is, having the due dates written down will remind you to plan ahead before these bills are due. Like a good partner, you want to remember important dates, like
birthdays or anniversaries, ahead of time. Same goes for your bills.
Your income, your spending, and your debts are unique to you. Therefore, you should
customize your budget to fit your needs. As it can be difficult to figure out the numbers
and divisions of funds, consider using a budget app to ease the process.
Start by examining last year’s bank statements and credit card bills for recurring charges. By comparing each monthly statement, you will begin to notice trends and figure out where you can cut some spending in favor of saving. By looking at a whole year worth of spending, you will be able to notice where seasonal spending comes into play–usually around the holidays–and prepare for the influx of spending ahead of time.
Skip a night on the town with expensive cocktails and overpriced appetizers in favor of a
cozy night at home with a bottle of wine. While a night out every once in a blue moon is within reason, know when your wallet requires a movie night at home.
If you’re a budgeting beginner, it can help to follow a budgeting pattern, like the 50/30/20 rule. In this method, you will allocate 50% of your post-tax income towards necessary expenses, like rent, bills, and living costs, 30% towards your “wants” or additional expenses, and the remaining 20% is split into savings and debt repayment. These percentages can be altered to suit your financial budget: you could do the 70/20/10, or the 60/20/20 based on your needs.
Moving can be expensive, but it can save you money in the long run. If you’re stuck in a cost heavy lease, try searching for a place more within your budget. A smaller home can even mean smaller utility bills.
If you are a homeowner, you may even consider refinancing to get that lower interest rate to pay off that mortgage even sooner while saving some extra cash.
Some direct deposits will allow you to split your paycheck between bank accounts. However, if this isn’t offered with your paycheck, you can set up an automatic transfer with your bank to reallocate some of your funds to savings with the drop of each paycheck.
Some weeks will be tighter than others, but in the case where you have a little extra cash, do “future you” a favor and put it into savings. While a little bit of treating yourself is needed from time to time, building your savings will help improve your financial health and help relieve some of those future worries.
Like any relationship, your relationship with money requires work. Budgeting a way to put in that work to improve your financial well-being to have a healthier relationship.
