Budgeting

Proper financial planning is the key to avoiding living from paycheck to paycheck. We are living in trying times, which greater emphasizes the importance of budgeting your money. In order for our economy to come out of the recession before it gets to deep and long, we must start with the individual. By instilling proper financial planning principles into the masses people will start realizing how and what people can do with their money. I see people all the time living from paycheck to paycheck often needing advances because they do not know how to manage their money. A very easy and efficient tool to learn and use is budgeting. Budgeting is ultimately a plan that allows you to allocate your funds anyway you wish. Budgeting allows you to tackle your goals from a financial perspective through awareness. In determining your budget you are deciding how much money goes where so that you can chalk up the rest to savings. Budgeting may get a bad rap for many people perceive being on a budget as being on a financial diet. However this is not true for your budget is customized to the way that you see fit.

There are some common myths and misperceptions about budgeting that are ultimately false and I want to take the time to clear up the air. Setting a budget means that you have is constantly sacrificing. This statement is only as true as people let it be, for every single budget is customized. Therefore a person who is trying to save up for something in a small amount of time, then yes some sacrifice will be involved. However most budgets are put in place to ensure that people are allocating their funds correctly and responsibly. If there is no financial plan that exists people will be much more susceptible to participate in impulse purchasing.

A common myth about budgeting is that it takes up too much time. Proper budgeting methods are not overly complicated or intricate that a 10 year old could compose one. Also, frankly people do not have time to not participate in budgeting. The way that you spend your money decides a lot about the type of life you are living therefore budgeting should be high on your priority list. You will be able to determine significant cost savings by just laying out your expenses versus your revenues. Things that seemed important in the short term now do no look as important.

Another misperception about budgeting is that it can cause a rift in your family. Living on a budget is not a new concept, and maybe at first your family might need some time to get used to it but overtime it will seem normal. A good way to deal with this is determine a budget on a family basis saving up for something fun for the whole family. Getting the family to bond together to achieve a common goal will not only save you money, but it will place importance on what really matters most.