You don’t like budgets? Here’s a simple, quick-start budgeting procedure
Website design By BotEap.comSince debt levels remain high, many people want to take control of their finances. Some made and then broke New Years resolutions, as usual, believing this to be normal. And it is, for people who don’t turn their resolutions into goals with viable plans.
Website design By BotEap.comToday, if you want to work on your finances, don’t make a resolution, just start working. For many, this is a great challenge. Where do you start? You read and heard a lot about budgets. You don’t realize that a budget is simply your best estimate of the cost of achieving specific future goals in a specific period. For example, next month you will pay rent, buy groceries, probably buy some shirts, give funds to God; right? Today, you can see how you could allocate next month’s available funds for these and other activities. Here are a few simple first steps to get started now:
- Get seven three-by-five cards and seven envelopes, one for each card.
- In the upper right corner of a card, write your gross income and this note: This income belongs to God; He will tell me how much to save in His Kingdom. Pray and ask him to show you this amount. On the front of the appropriate envelope, write “INCOME.”
- Calculate the amount to spend by subtracting from gross income, the amount to give to God, taxes, and other deductions.
- Write the amount available to spend in the center of this card and circle it. If the gross income is $ 3,000, giving God $ 400, taxes of $ 1,000, then $ 1600 is available to spend. Write $ 1,600 on the front of the INCOME envelope.
- On each of the six remaining cards and envelopes, write one of these categories: taxes and deductions, food, clothing, transportation, housing, and more. Use your best estimate to calculate and assign amounts to each category: for example, taxes $ 1,000, food $ 400, clothing $ 100, transportation $ 200, housing $ 700, other $ 200).
- Aside from taxes, which your employer will deduct, carry cash for the amounts identified and put them in each envelope. If you prefer not to use cash, be sure to pay your credit card balance in full on a monthly basis. Still, when you spend, write the details on the appropriate card. Each card should show a starting budget, say $ 400, and each time you spend, reduce the balance and record the new balance. And above all, stop spending when the balance is zero. Next month, resume the procedure by adding the budget for the month.
- Before you spend, make sure you have a procedure to help you decide whether to spend. If your debt increases, don’t spend. Whose? Yes, imagine that you have exhausted the available credit, so what do you do? Ask God to guide you.