Budgeting for Beginners

Why is budgeting good?

For a beginner a budget will not be easy as this will require changes, some big and some small, but changes nonetheless. Change is always a little terrifying , we cannot expect anything to get better if we do not make positive changes in our lives.

Steps to success :

1. Assess your income and fixed expenses

Gather up all of your bank statements, checkbook register (or other expense tracking system), bill statements, and any other financial information that you think may be relevant. Sit down and start crunching numbers.

2. Assess your variable expenses

Compare those totals to your Income minus Fixed Expenses. Being in the red means that you run out of money before the end of the month and may have to borrow money from savings, a friend, or pay on credit in order to survive. The key to success is to try, and to try again.

3. Add it all up

Now that you have created your budget, add up the numbers to make sure everything is in balance. If it is not balanced, go back and repeat steps one and two until you get the numbers to balance out.If there is an expense that is eating up so much of your budget that you cannot get the numbers to balance i.e (being spent on food or buying expensive brand name clothes), it may be time to get rid of that expense. If it is an expense that cannot be easily thrown out like car insurance, find other expenses that you can cut until you have your budget in balance.

4. Self Assessment

Put into practice those financial new year’s resolutions today and make a commitment to stick to them throughout the course of the new year.You will be in a better place financially once you do.

Conclusion :

In summary by budgeting, I will follow these steps like a john madden commentary and budget my expenses to make sure that I'm not spending a lot of money on unnecessary things like video games, junk food,etc. In the end all you want your budget to do is balance like a seesaw.

http://www.getsmarteraboutmoney.ca/en/maV2fs1PkrLIVnagingyourmoney/planning/budgeting/Pages/default.aspx#

http://www.investopedia.com/university/budgeting/basics2.asp

http://creativesavingsblog.com/beginners-guide-to-budgeting/

http://www.thefinancegirl.com/how-to-create-a-personal-budget-for-beginners/