What I like most about the #hive platform is the level of transparency that it brings along. There were many tools, that helps each user to access their growth in the platform. For example, #hivestats.io is one such tool that keep a track of our voting mana. A user can easily decide upon their curation activity merely looking at the tool. The tool also provide some in-depth analytical study about the account growth. It is comprehensive tool that provides the earning details as far as any account is concerned. An user can easily keep track of their activity through these tool and decide further course of action of their exiting account. In a way, #hivestats makes the budgeting and forecasting of an account through comparative study of data.
However, when it comes to real life, it is important we should also have some comparative details which will allow us to keep a check on our income and expenditure. In todays fast forwarding life, it is must for every individual to keep a check on their pockets. Unless and until you are a born millionaire, or billionaire to spend money with both hands.
Budgeting & Forecasting :
The life of a common man, generally the middle-class section of the society needs to live their life in a calculated way. They have to plan everything before spending out. Being belonging from the same section, I have seen the phases where little extra expenses in any month add to the family woes. And that is why my dad always kept the budgeting in check every month. He used to keep a note of all the monthly expenses, like the monthly grocery, our school fees, miscellaneous expenses and then rest he used to put them in the government small saving scheme.
each drops matter he always insisted that each penny matters and always remain alert in losing it to the vendors.
The best part of his budgeting is that he always makes a provision for miscellaneous expenses and that comes handy at time of emergency. If that provision amount remains unutilized for few month then he used to invest them in Government Long Term Saving Scheme and further begins a new provision account. This way he makes sure to keep some amount handy through small saving scheme, through investing in long term scheme he made sure to build future corpus. Whatever he put in the small saving account were utilised during the festival time for buying clothes or other items or celebration. Small saving scheme allowed my dad to get a good return at that time and also it was easy to withdraw during extreme hardship. So he was aiming two things, while he keeps multiplying the money through saving scheme, on the other hand he kept all the expenses in check.
He was good at calculation and result of it was that he smartly manages his budget in such way that we never felt scarcity of anything. He also sowed some seeds of minimalism in us. Which allow us to live freely and not to die for anything as soon as it hit the market. Like, we can afford the mobile phone which fulfil all the basic requirement, rather than spending on high range premium phone. The main motive is to get the things done and what a flagship phone does in less expensive way then why to bear extra cost on premium smartphones.
Tracking the Expenses:
Nowadays, I have seen people make use of many digital #apps, other #software for their monthly accounts. It is strange, how things have changed, people finding the apps handier now. Even knowing that they have fixed expenditure unless and until they opt for lavish lifestyle.
Once you start to be extravagant then surely you will find it hard to keep a check on your expenses. Tracking the expenses require monthly study of the expenses. Once you acknowledges the expenses then divide them into fixed cost (one which remain ought to occur every month, like electricity, milk, grocery etc) and variable cost (cost which varies each month depending upon different circumstances like festival, unknown guest, birthday celebration etc.). It is important we should identify the nature of expenses and then allocate our income in such a way that all ends meet comfortably. There is no rush, to get to certain things. In case we have some genuine requirement then that can be achieved through savings or through cost cutting. The onus is always on us, the more we save, the more we spend at later stage. Things can be delayed for a reason, and it is not necessary to hurried them away to make our pocket heavier.
PS: The Indian Currency denomination images used in this post are of my own picture clicked using my smartphone.