Obeying Your Budget is the Toughest Part of Personal Finance
May 31st, 2010 Filed under: Uncategorized — Personal Finance AuthorIf we want to actually have a happy and stress-free financial life, we need to carefully balance our spending needs with our income and ultimately, act responsible for our purchases. Money may not bring happiness, if the cliche is to be believed. But it does bring with it, a sense of security as well as peace of mind. If you can stay within your income, i.e. do not spend money you do not actually have, you are well on the way to keeping your finances on an even keel. The first and most crucial step in achieving financial independence is being to identify what our net income is (our income after we take off expenses) and then sticking to that religiously without deviation.
Merely keeping records of what we spend and when we spend is the straightforward part of the puzzle, as anyone can do this with a degree of ease. Just make sure you actually take the time to record your expenses when they are fresh in your memory as this will mean that you will not inadvertently forget them sometime in the future. The last thing you want is to reach the end of the month with a major gap in your money and with no comfortable means of identifying how or why the gap appeared in the first instance!
However, where the problems start rearing their ugly heads is in the context of actually sticking to the budget! Writing down the expenses requires organization and good timekeeping skills, however, actually obeying them is a totally different kettle of fish altogether.
Don’t get caught short with your budget, make sure you take the time to record your expenses as and when they arise. This may seem like a draconian approach, but, the truth of the matter is that this is the only way you can be guaranteed that you will not run into problems.
Maintaining your personal finance can be one of the toughest tasks that you will have to face in life. Make use of the personal finance tools to manage your personal finance effectively.
2 Responses to “Obeying Your Budget is the Toughest Part of Personal Finance”
By Chris Hooper on Jun 11, 2010 | Reply
I think that budgets are too painful for most people. I only used a budget as a means to find out where the money was going (not where it should be going). Once I had that information, I made a few lifestyle changes and halved my spending.
Saving should come first; in sticking with the “Pay yourself first” way of thinking. Moreover it should come straight off the top automatically. The less you think about saving the easier it is.
By judith on Jun 16, 2010 | Reply
Nice writing style. I will come back to read more posts from you.