Budgeting For Life

We all know that having a budget to simplify your financial life is just a smart way to live. But finding a budget that works for you and knowing HOW to budget can be tricky.

I have to admit, I have gotten very very lax on budgeting.  I use to be the penny pinching, budget every penny to make it count kind of person.  Now I just spend every dime willy nilly without thinking twice.  How did I become such a spendthrift?

It took me years to get here, but my mindset has recently been: live everyday as if it's your last. Enjoy life! So instead of depriving myself so much like I use to, I figure, why not treat myself.  But I have been treating myself a little too much and a little too frequently of late.  And right now, we cannot afford for me to be so carefree with money.

I need to implement a budget and one that actually works.  Last year, as simple as my budget was, it quite simply failed.  I hated having to account for every single dime that I spent.  Yes, it's good to know where your money goes, but budgeting for things like gum is crazy.

I think I finally figured out a way I can still treat myself and stick to a budget.  I have to lay out all our must pay bills, the really important stuff that we cannot afford NOT to pay.   The light, the car, the kids' school fees, etc.  Those are all set in stone and need to be paid every single month.

I will need to set up some kind of system where I have all my bills planned out for each month and how much each bill will be (and an estimate for those bills that tend to fluctuate each month like electricity).  Then I need to set aside an amount for spending money, a set amount each month that is just mine to spend however I choose, without having to account for every single nickel and dime. Then I'll set aside an amount for savings and miscellaneous.

As soon as I can figure a system out and have that in place, I think I can get a handle on our finances. Some people might  think that having to budget sucks.  But even if you make a ton of money, I think its just smart to have a budget in place.  Keeping track of your money and making sure you can account for where your dough is going makes life a little easier.  Keeping on top of your bills and your spending makes for a stress free life.  The budget savvy person is also a happy person in real life because they have their financial life under control.  I need to start budgeting for life.