How to Make Budgeting Work for You

Most people would agree that creating and using a budget isn’t exactly fun.  Satisfying, yes. Fun? Not so much.  If you’re one of them, we have some tips to help you rethink budgeting and get it to work for you.
 

Rethink Your Budget

The first step toward making budgeting a powerful tool for you is to rethink its purpose. Instead of looking at a budget as something restrictive, look at it in the following way. 

My budget:

• provides freedom.
• shows me how much I can spend on the fun things in life.
• helps me reach my long-term and short-term savings goals. 
• gives me direction to keep my financial life in order so that I can do the things I want to do.

Set Short Goals

One of the best ways to get excited about budgets is to set reachable, short-term goals. 

This could be something like saving for a summer vacation or saving for a new computer. 

Start setting goals by doing the following:

• Break them down so that you have weekly benchmarks to reach for.  
• When you reach the goal, it will be motivating. 
• You’ll see that your budget helped you attain those fun things, and you’ll want to use it more and more.

Leverage Technology

You don’t need to rely on pen and paper to create your budget. (Unless you love paper and pen.) Loads of budgeting sites and apps will make budgeting easier and enjoyable. Depending on your preferences look for apps to help you: 

• Find and delete subscriptions that you don’t use.
• Round up purchases to save a few pennies on every transaction.
• Negotiate with companies to lower your monthly bills. 

Try different sites and apps until you find one that works for you. It should be easy to use and motivating. 

Do One Thing

Set short-term savings goals to help you stay motivated to use a budget.


Article Credit: Jean Chatzky