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Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Personal Budgeting Strategies

By Kay Riter

A personal budget has to be tailored to each person. What works for one person might not work for another person. For example, it might make sense for a family of 5 to set aside $400 for food each month, but if only support yourself, on person, $400 is pretty steep to spending on food.

If you are trying to design a good budget you need to follow some basic personal budgeting strategies. First, make sure you are recording all the money you make and that you are making the most that you can. Don't just include your salary and think that tips, side jobs, overtime, or interest don't matter. It is all money that you are earning.

If you need extra money or if you have extra time and would like to make extra money, don't pass up any opportunity to do so. As a certified teacher, you can make a lot tutoring after work. Many different jobs can be taken on their own and made a side business. If you just want to get away from your regular career for a little, get a part time job or be creative and think of a small business you can start.

Now add up all your expenses. Write down every expense for a month. Even the smallest expenses should be added up. If you spend 50 cents on a donut, it might not seem worth it to write down, but if you buy one everyday, that would add up to $15 a month, which should be written down. This will help you find what expenses you can do without.

Try to cut back as much as you can on expenses. If you are spending money on things you don't need and don't really want, you are passing up a lot of savings. You need to get in the mindset that life isn't about stuff.

Don't become a stingy saver, and don't be unreasonable. Sure, you could save hundreds of dollars of month if you lived on Ramen noodles alone, but that is both unhealthy and not plausible. Come up with a good balance.

If you are in debt, especially heavy debt, you might have to be somewhat stingy until you pay off your debt. Downgrade wherever you can and only spend when you absolutely have to. The more you cut out, the faster you'll pay off your debt.

Keep at your budget. Make a budget that will benefit you the most. You need a good balance between saving and spending. If it's to hard to stop spending, you need to get some help and work on your spending addiction. If you can't stop spending, that is exactly what it is, an addiction.

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