5 Tips To Help You Stick To Your Budget

Sticking to your budget can be difficult for anybody. Most of us start the month off with the best intentions of saving money, however, at the end of the month; many of us find out that we have exceeded our spending limit. It’s a common scenario.

There are a lot of reasons why we end up overspending, from spending on sale items to forgetting how much you actually spent already. If this is a common situation for you it might be time to adopt some new habits and strategies to save money and stay within your budget plan. Here are a few tips and tricks that will help you be better at budgeting and become more diligent about your spending habits.

1. SLEEP ON BIG PURCHASES

If it’s not something you need, take a week to think on it. Does this purchase come with a payment plan (e.g. a car loan) that will mess with your budget? Will this throw off your savings? How will this benefit your day-to-day life? Is the benefit worth the cost?

Weigh the benefits here to make sure it’s adding value to your life and not stress on your budget. If after the week you’ve forgotten about it, that’s a pretty good indicator that you didn’t actually need it.

2. NEVER SPEND MORE THAN YOU HAVE

Getting into debt can be a vicious cycle that is tough to get out of. You end up spending more on interest than you needed to if you had held off or saved up.

If you can’t afford something you want, put it off for the next week. If you want to go on vacation, plan for it. Save regularly so it doesn’t throw off your budget.

Eating Mr. Noodles for 4 months after a vacation is probably not your idea of “living your best life.”

3. STICK TO A LOWER CREDIT CARD LIMIT

Credit cards with high limits are easy to rack up and hard to pay down. Reduce the temptation! Keep to a lower credit limit and pay it off more frequently so you never get trapped.

A good rule of thumb is to stick to a limit that you can pay off at one time (eg. using an emergency fund). That way, you can cover your purchases with minimal or no interest while building your credit in a healthy way.

4. BUDGET TO ZERO

Budgeting to zero means that when you create your budget, your income minus your expenses add up to zero.

     Income – expenses = $0

When you budget to zero, you give every dollar you earn a job, even if that job is savings or an extra loan payment. You don’t give yourself a buffer or extra padding. This is a radical way to take complete control over your finances.

Budgeting to zero doesn’t mean you spend every dollar you earn. Neither does it mean that you’re stuck with your categories for the month. On the contrary, it is a great method to start a savings program by working your savings into your budget and to keep that budget flexible so it can change with the curve balls life throws at you.

5. TRY A NO-SPEND CHALLENGE

This is sometimes referred to as a spending freeze, a spending fast or a zero spend challenge. Whatever you call it, the idea is the same: a commitment to not spend money on anything that’s not a necessity.

You can do a no spend challenge for a week, a month or even a whole year! It might seem intense but it’s a remarkably effective way to shock your system, cull your spending habits and change your mindset around money.

Get started with your no spend challenge by identifying in writing what qualifies as a necessity and how long you’re going for. Make it more fun by challenging your best friends or family members and see who can save the most.