Shopping life has changed so dramatically it is mind boggling. It seems just like yesterday when you were braving traffic or enduring a long wait; depending on the location, to buy all your needs at one, two maybe three locations. Nowadays, shopping centers are springing up all over and almost overnight. Designer clothes, takeaway food, Mediterranean fruit, bread sliced on demand, flowers, fragrances, and coffee to go; it is a shoppers dream come true. Well, until you tote up and the amount makes you think,
“Where is my money going to?”
Where indeed? Don’t ignore budgeting this year because
1.Budgeting is beneficial.
It is not being ‘stingy’ or ‘kasso’ to budget. These are words you should not use or allow people to say to you. Planning where you want your money to go and where you want to spend your money is your right. Many people are rich or have a manageable lifestyle because they control what they spend with a budget.
A budget affords you the chance to pay for things that you need and buy what you can afford.
2. Budgeting is smart
Since you are planning for the money before it comes in and you are planning where it will go when it does come in; you will not make haphazard expenditures just because you have money in your pocket or purse. All your bills (or almost all) will be paid and you will get all the things you need for the month even if you do not get the phone, bag, car, or suit that you want. The fact is you were smart and paid for all your immediate needs without borrowing or getting a salary advance.
With a budget, you are always up to date and know about what came in and where your money went each month.
3.Budgeting is Easy.
If you have not done it before, track your expenses week by week for a month. Keep and ask for all receipts and where there are none, like open-air markets and roadside vendors jot the amounts down as soon as possible. Record these receipts and amounts in an exercise book and at the end of the month total them up. How does this total compare to your income? Did you spend less than you earned or did you over spend?
A budget helps to catch and control all those unnecessary expenditures camouflaged as needs.
4.Budgeting is dynamic
Prices, circumstances (domestic or financial) change all the time and your budget will change too. This means that you will be adding all new costs or removing all those that you do not have any more due to these changes. Updating and comparing what happens month to month will guide you and help you make the necessary adjustments to your spending habits.
When your budget changes you should change your consumption or spending pattern too.
5.Budgeting is character building
You will find that you will become skilled and disciplined as time goes. You will be able to say no to stuff you do not need. You will do things because you must and become skilled at suppressing the desire to make unnecessary purchases. If you control your spending then the money you make should be enough. If you do not control your spending then the money you make will never be enough.
A budget will make it easier for you to control where your money is going and curb any overspending.
