How You Can Budget in Three Easy Steps

budgeting
Savings Budge Investment

Budgeting is the primary part of being a stay-at-home mom. Budgeting your money is difficult mainly because you're on a tight budget. It's crucial to guarantee that you're not spending more than you can afford, and it's even more important to set aside money for savings.

As a mother, it's not easy to feel like there's insufficient money in your budget. If you're anything like me, you probably don't want to think about how much you spend on things like food, clothes and other essentials. You might want to focus on what's important: your family, your job, and your children.

But let's be honest: no matter how many people say it's good for them, it's still hard to keep up with all the bills in our life. Many things happen monthly, and we don't have time for everything.

But how do you find the time? Sometimes, we feel like we need a budget to save money, but that's not true! An honest budget is simply a way of managing your money so you can live within your means—and you can do it in three easy steps. Here's how to get cash when you need it quickly.

1. List all your bills, expenses, and income in a spreadsheet or notebook. Set them in order of importance (e.g., rent or mortgage first; then utilities). You'll be able to see where your money is going and what you have left over. Then, set a spending limit for each category of spending.

Buy things with cash or credit cards only after you've reached your spending limit and if you only need them. Track your monthly expenses through an app or spreadsheet, and adjust your budget when needed!

2. Set an amount to automatically transfer from your paycheck to your savings or investment account every payday. It will ensure that money gets transferred without fail so that you don't miss out on any opportunities to use it! 

3. Set up a recurring transfer from your paycheck to another account. For example, retirement accounts—that offer higher interest rates so that they grow faster than the average savings account rate would have been over time (if this doesn't make sense yet, check out this article about how compound interest works).

By utilizing these steps, you can budget your money for savings. It won't happen overnight, but eventually, you might have some nice little cushion built up, just in case, of an emergency. 

Budgeting is hard. I'm saying this from personal experience. The first time I tried to budget, it went well for a few weeks, and then I fell off the wagon. Then I tried to budget again for a few months, but my husband got laid off, and my son was in the hospital due to typhoid fever. It was hard, but I went on saving and budgeting.

Finally, it all boils down to keeping track of your money. You can't just go on without knowing the whereabouts of your money. Hoping that it will deal itself out evenly throughout the month because it will not. You decide to keep a printed calendar to write daily or use apps that help you in saving and manage your spending.

Now that you know how to budget and save money! Start it today!

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