I didn't learn my lesson about budgeting earlier in life and it backed fire. I was good with saving, I started saving in my piggy bank before I was 9 years of age but I eventually spend my saving on irrelevant things except my mom helped me use to buy something tangible.
It went on like that till I started working, I was saving so that I could go to school but my saving wasn't fixed and there are months I don't even have anything to save because I knew nothing about proper budgeting. All I do was spend as it comes, I remember having a suit where I put my salary then whenever I was paid at my teaching job. Everyone has an access to it as long as you are a member of the family, I didn't worry about it until mom took me to the bank to open an account for me and deposited some money in the account.
I was wondering where she got the money from and when I asked, she said it was from the money I do put in my black suit. Mom was actually saving from it without my knowledge and I got to learn about planning with money after that experience.
Budgeting is very important, it is the most effective way to keep how you spend your money in check. Money is very easy to use, lack of self-control or discipline with money can make a rich man poor if care is not taken. Without good budgeting skills, there are high chances of spending recklessly on things that are of no importance to us.
Before I moved away from home, mom was in charge of budgeting and I just have to support her when she wants me to. I had to take the responsibility of making budgets myself when I left home, it wasn't difficult because of the lesson I have gathered from.
Being able to make and work with my budget helped me a lot in school, I didn't wear fancy clothes or designer shoes but I was in control of my finance. I always had everything planned and I don't have a choice but to keep to the plan because an alteration in the budget will hurt me.
After getting a job in 2019, I knew it was time to leave my apartment because it was small and the environment was something else. To achieve it, I needed to be strict with myself.
Keeping to your budget is not as easy as making them that's why lots of people have failed at the point of execution. A pen and paper or a notepad, calculator, pricelist, and other few things are what you need when making a budget but executing everything you have written requires determination and discipline. Without these two things, there is no how keeping to a budget will be possible.
I made a monthly budget that should help me get a new apartment in a year, I was earning about a hundred and ten dollars then which made accomplishing the dream unrealistically coupled with my monthly bills. I had too many bills on me but I was able to cut down on different stuff and concentrated on what really matters.
The first thing I did was help my mom improve her business so I wouldn't worry much about getting money across to her and it worked. I reduced a lot of things I was doing and I was able to take the house a few months after a year because of the unexpected expenses that came up. Those impromptu spending also taught me to keep some money for miscellaneous to avoid doing things that could toggle with your budget.
There are lots of factors I put into consideration when making budget and they are:
My income: Every budget begins with how much you are expecting and I am open to correction if I am wrong about it.
I plan with whatever I have worked for. I have seen people include what someone promised them in their budget and it makes me laugh. It is an unwise thing to do because you can't be too sure if the person will do it or won't. If the person fails then everything you have planned will crumble so easily so working with what you have is the best decision.
Family: I include my family because they are very important to me and including them as a factor will make me take care of any expenses that might want to come from them. Failure to include family usually doesn't end very well especially when you are the breadwinner of the family.
Digging into my savings which isn't avoidable if I fail to consider my family will ruin my budget so it is best to take care of everything while creating the budget.
My needs: I have my needs which are very important things that must be sorted, the needs must fit into the budget. Trying to neglect them would be a bad idea because when the need for them arises, you will eventually take from what you have kept
They include food, transportation fare, utility bill, and many others.
Price of things.
The price of things: This is another factor that must be considered, world inflation is rising and things are adding up in price almost every day which is one of the reasons why I choose bulk purchase.
If you are not the bulk purchase kind of person then you must be ready to include the unexpected in the budget.
My ways of keeping to my budget are simple and you might find them helpful.
I buy things especially food in bulk: Buying food in bulk is one of the things I do to keep my budget thing, I discovered it costs more to food items in bits so I opt-in for bulk purchase.
This is a traditional thing for me, my mom buys in bulk but I digress for a bit when I started staying alone and it wasn't long before I realized that I was walking on the wrong path.
Eating out: I am so disciplined with purchasing cooked food, this is something I don't do often and it must be for a huge reason if you see me doing it.
Eating out from time to time doesn't help stay on your budget except you have a budget for eating out always. It is not to argue that you spend more money eating out than cooking your meal at home. You can cut your monthly expenses on food by half if you switch from eating out to eating your homemade food.
Redefined my definition of fun: We all have a different definition of fun and a lot of people have made an unwise decision with their definition. Going bankrupt all the name of flexing or entertaining myself is not fun.
Having extravagant fun will make keeping to budget very difficult, you can spend little and still enjoy yourself but if you have the money, you can have the maximum fun you want.
Keeping to one's budget is very beneficial, keeping your expenses in check will help you save more.