4 Things You Should Know Before You Start Budgeting

With the end of the year nearing, it is almost time up for the New Year resolutions. Most people have either already made their New Year resolutions or are in the process of making or finalizing them. If you have made a resolution for this New Year that you are going to budget your expenses better this year, well then you are in luck. This blog will tell you 4 things that you should know before you start budgeting to make sure your budgeting attempt is successful.

1.     Failing Is Common But Don’t Give Up

Budgeting is like all the other tasks that we do and it is normal to fail while doing such a task. Humans aren’t perfect and there is always the opportunity to mess up or make mistakes. What is important though is that you accept that failure will happen and yet continue to keep yourself motivated. Budgeting requires day to day accounts and conviction, sometimes much like with a diet plan there can be lack of conviction which might ruin the overall outcome. Yet it shouldn’t be taken as a setback, instead it should be treated as a new lesson learnt.

2.     Your Ability To Track Is The Key Component In Your Budget

Do you remember the meal you ate 2 weeks ago? Or are you aware of the colour of the T-shirt that you wore on your pyjamas before going to bed? Now add up the costs spent on both these activities…you’ll need a pen and paper to do it. You won’t be able to do it in your head. To make a budget successful you need to list everything down and not keep it only in the havens of your mind. Tracking all your expenses in your budget over such as long time is definitely going to be impossible and hence record making is needed.

3.     Keep The Categorize Plain And Simple

If it’s your first time budgeting, it is easy to get carried away by categorizing expenses into several different categories. These categorizes can sometimes be very narrow such as dog eating expenses, dog care expenses etc. The best way is to broaden the categories so that large number of different expenses can be categorized easily. Such as instead of dog food expenses and dog care expense, make a broad category that says pet expenses.

4.     Budgets Will Be Hard To Explain

Budgeting can be a cumbersome task alright but explaining it to family and friends can be even more difficult than that. Most of the times people who make budgets avoid having to discuss them with friends and family. This is primarily because while some people will appreciate the effort that has been put in and the targets set a few members of the family, friends or colleagues circle is likely to show discontent and displeasure.

These 4 tips are important for you to keep in your mind when you are about to start budgeting to keep yourself motivated and committed to the task at hand at all times.