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According to StepChange Debt Charity's recently released Statistics Yearbook 2014, the biggest...
9 life-changing reasons why you should have a budget
Budgets are life-changing
Budgeting! You either love it or hate it (but you should never ignore it).
Here are 9 reasons why you should always be interested in your budget…
Budget better in 9 easy steps
1. Budgeting saves you money If you have a budget it means you know what you can and cannot afford. You shop around to stay within your budget and you’ll soon find you have an eye for a bargain.
2. Budgeting keeps you out of debt. Good budgeters don’t need to rely on overdrafts, expensive credit cards or high interest payday loans. Having a budget in place to avoid this trinity of expensive financial products saves you money from the off!
Some people have a budget in place to help them to repay debt. This is brilliant but it’s vital that the budget is accurate and realistic.
3. You can save for treats and afford them. People sometimes think that living on a budget will mean living like a hermit and not having any fun – not true! Having a budget in place actually helps you to spoil yourself a bit more; you can put money aside to spend on entertainment and little treats.
The great thing about budgeting is that you make sure the treats are affordable or that you save for them. This can mean holidays, concerts, days out, sporting events or whatever’s important to you.
Treating yourself to something is all the sweeter knowing you’ve saved for it. It means there should be no guilt in blowing a bit of cash on something you want, without getting a debt hangover.
4. You have all the essentials. If you budget properly and really plan well it means you’ll never run out of essentials towards the end of the month. Your car shouldn’t be running on fumes three days before payday if you budget correctly. This leads onto the next point…
5. Budgeting means less stress. Some people don’t understand that a good budget can be created in around 20 minutes. It might require a little will power to start with but you’ll find having a budget in place and sticking to it will reduce your stress.
No more worrying about how you’re going to afford things when your money gets low. A good personal budget will make sure you’ve planned for everything in advance – and every good budget should include emergency savings for when something goes wrong. This is your back-up money and will help you with any unexpected costs.
6. A budget can make your life easier. Always worrying about cash is a waste of your time. Take 20 minutes to put a budget together and stick to it. No more worries, no more hassle; let your budget take the strain and gain a sense of freedom.
If things don’t work out perfectly at first then go back to your budget and see what you’ve learned. Adjust the budget and then continue; if you fail to plan you plan to fail. If you don’t budget you will fudge it with money.
7. Stability and planning for the future. Once you become an advanced budgeter you can start to plan for the long-term (something you can’t do without a budget). You can make provisions for clearing debts and then go onto savings, pensions and investments.
You’ll be able to build up a savings and emergency fund. And you’ll be able to look to the future with an informed idea of how things will be financially to the next 10, 20 or 30 years.
8. Budgeting saves you time. What’s the most precious, finite thing on earth? Time! How much time do you spend on money? Do you worry about it a lot? Are you always wishing you had more of it? Are you always thinking about how to take charge of your cash? Simples! A budget will save you time worrying, thinking and stressing about money. A good personal budget is 20 minutes invested wisely.
9. And the final reason why you should never get bored with budgeting is: control. You know it’s true. A budget gives you control over your life. You’re in charge. Whatever your goals are in life we all need money in some form or other. If you put together a good budget and stick to it you’re in the driving seat.
If this has encouraged you to put together a personal we have an online tool called Debt Remedy that’ll help you do this in less than 20 minutes. Debt Remedy is free and anonymous and if you have any debt problems it’ll recommend the best solution for you and how to proceed.
