1. Understand how to budget finances
2. Keep track of money
3. Identify key areas of expenses to determine cuts and investment opportunities
1. Do you have a monthly personal budget?
Having a monthly budget helps you keep track of what you earn and what you spend. A budget, by definition, is a plan for how you will spend your money, save your money, and invest your money.
The money you earn is your income and the money you spend are your expenses. If your income is greater than your expenses, you have a budget surplus. If your income is less than your expenses, you have a budget deficit.
2. Be smart about your finances!
Think about what areas of life have caused financial stress in the past. Was there an unexpected event that affected your finances negatively? Think about what led to that, and what went wrong.
3. How did you deal with it?
Anticipate similar obstacles in the future and account for them in your budget. Keeping this in the back of your mind will ensure smart behavior in the future. Be specific and realistic.
When creating your monthly budget, here are some categories of expenses you will need to take in to account: Food, entertainment, transportation, school supplies, etc.
4. Is your monthly spending plan working? Is there something you can do differently if it is not? If you have made a financial plan, set goals, created a budget, and you are still struggling to manage your money well, here are a few questions to consider.
Questions to Consider About Your Budget:
1. Are your goals realistic?
2. Are your goals achievable?
3. Be as specific as possible
4. Use different categories when budgeting money
5. Avoid the “Everything Else” category
5. How can you decrease monthly spending?
Ask yourself these questions: What are your largest expenses? Can you decrease these expenses? Why are you purchasing “luxury” items? Are these items really important? Do you need these items? By cutting luxury expenses and decreasing flexible expenses, you can decrease monthly spending.
6. How can you stop everyday spending leaks?
Spending leaks are regular purchases that you make but that can be avoided. Although they tend to be small, these purchases will add up over time. By stopping them, you can save money. First, keep more money in the bank than in your wallet. The less money you have on you, the less likely you will be to spend it. Avoid costly habits, such as smoking. Always make a shopping list and stick to it. Do not spend on impulse.
Before you take out your wallet to pay for an item, ask yourself these questions. Be a smart shopper!
1. Why am I buying this item?
2. Why do I want this item?
3. Is there a less expensive alternative that I can buy?
4. Compare both items and analyze the differences
5. How will this item benefit me?
6. Do I really need this item?
Being a smart shopper and a good saver takes practice. Here are some tips on how to save more money to get you started. Eat at home—make your meals at home from scratch and bring lunches to work. Use coupons, but be smart about your coupon use. Still compare costs. Buy in large quantities the things you use a lot; just make sure the items do not spoil quickly. Always buy the things you really need first.
You can never have enough tips for managing your spending! Here are some rules to follow.
1. Make purchases while there are sales
2. Set weekly allowances for spending
3. Pay for groceries with cash
4. Avoid check-cashing stores and pawn shops— they can cost more money in fees
5. Always communicate with your family about spending
Managing your money is not only about creating a budget; it is also about keeping track of your expenses. What is an easy way to keep track of your expenses? Get a small notebook and write down the cost of everything that you purchase. There are different methods in which you can keep track of your money.
Budgeting your monthly expenses is essential to achieving life goals such as obtaining a university education, starting and supporting a family, and being a productive member of your community. Budgeting allows you to plan for expected and unexpected expenses and to increase your savings to plan for future events. Are you looking to adjust your expenses? Try the following activities to meet your budgeting goals.
Activity
1: Record Your Weekly Expenses and Estimate a Budget Managing money so that you can pay for the things you need and want requires you to know exactly how you spend your money. For this activity, you will prepare a budget by first listing your goals and then determining your needs.
Next, you’ll use the expense record provided to list all your expenses for one week. Finally, you will estimate monthly income and expenses and evaluate your spending habits. List Your Goals Make a list of your financial goals on a separate sheet of paper. For example, list the things you want to buy. If you are saving for something special such as a down payment on a car, list those goals. After reading the list, underline or circle the goals that are most important to you. Cross out the things that you do not really need.
Record Your Weekly Expenses Use the expense record below to keep track of what you are spending for a week. At the end of the week, total the amount spent for each heading, to see what you spend a week. Note: To budget for your entire month, you will need to predict your monthly expenses. You can do this by multiplying your average weekly expenses by four, but keep in mind that some bills are only paid once a month. Sometimes using innovative tools can make your work a little bit easier and more fun.
I see a lot of people asking this question on "How to save money?" or "How to manage money?" in Nigeria.
This is a very good question to ask. My financial mentor have told me several time that the only solution to the question above is to be Financial Literate.
How can one be financial Literate? You can only be financial literate if you compare your incoming income and your outgoing funds and make your you have a positive result - i.e. you still have spare income.
To do the above, I now see many people using the Financial literacy techniques to save and mange money with the use of a Prepaid Debit card to do their monthly budgeting,
What is a Prepaid Card and how do prepaid card work?
Prepaid Card is a Debit card that is NOT linked to your current or savings account. You will have to fund the card before you can use it.
They works exactly like your normal bank debit (ATM) cards and they can be use for everything you can use your debit card on.
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