How to Stick to Your Budget
Budgeting is essential and it can sometimes be hard to stick to a budget, especially when you have to keep track of your whole family’s expenses. Following these few simple steps will hopefully help you be on top of your budgeting game.
Create a monthly budget
When you know exactly how much income your household makes and what you must absolutely spend each month, it’s easy to set up a standard monthly budget. Make sure to always keep extra money for unexpected expenses. You can try our sample budget excel file or if you’re more comfortable with keeping everything on paper, you can create a Budget binder.
Anticipate your expenses
Before each month, adjust your standard monthly budget to your needs. For example, if you are going away on holiday, adjust your expenses accordingly.
Buy FundScrip gift cards
Buy your gift cards in advance to make sure you raise more for your group! When your budget is set up and you know which store you’re going to visit and approximately how much you’re going to spend, it’s really easy to order just the right gift cards.
Control daily expenses
The hardest part of budgeting is this; making sure you stick to your budget. In order to do this, you can keep all of your receipts and enter your expenses in your Excel sheet or your Budget Binder at the end of each day or week. You can also keep a journal on you or download an app to write down all of your expenses in real time.
Review & adjust for next month
Once the month is finished, you can fill in your budget. You can now compare what you planned versus what you actual did end up spending. If you spent more for food than you expected, make sure you adjust your monthly budget for next month so you reduce expenses elsewhere.
What do you do to keep your budget intact year-round?