The most exciting part of building a budget is seeing cash or assets pile up by the end of the budget. The temptation is to trim expenses to what they could be and not what they are expected to be.  Keeping a working budget is great way to track previous expenses and help with future estimates.

Expenses are always higher than expected

Resist the urge to trim expenses to where your expectations are.  This often comes down to a battle of will-power and self-restraint.  There is nothing more frustrating than exceeding monthly budgeted expenses.  When miscellaneous expenses occur, or spending is higher than expected, it is nice to have a buffer built in to the budget to absorb excess.  Remember that if your budget is constantly examined as being overly optimistic, it will likely not succeed as a long-term planning tool.

Timing affects everything

Payment equalization plans can be a great way to make a monthly budget simpler.  Some expenses are annual payments that cause a big hit to the budget in a single month.  This hit is not typically offset by additional earnings, so they can often create a negative balance for the month.

Having an emergency fund to specifically combat these monthly issues can be a strategy to navigate around un-expected issues.

Is it a spending issue or an income issue?

The last thing that you want to do is work more as a solution to a negative budget outlook, but sometimes it is the only solution.  This is where you truly have to look at becoming a resourceful person.  Tony Robbins claims that its not a lack of resources that holds us back, but a lack in resourcefulness.

“It’s time to get creative”

Why hold yourself back from your true potential.  You are not defined by the current job you are in.  You don’t have to be completely self employed to become an entrepreneur.  Start selling your passion on Etsy or do some house-cleaning on the side.

Preparing a time budget

Our time may prove to be too scare in which we need to prepare an audit of your time.  Writing down all of your tasks in a day to determine where the wasted/inefficient time exists.  The more hopeless the situation, the more detail must be on the time audit.  Tracking every 15 minutes of your day is very time-consuming, but the only real way to determine where the holes in your schedule exist.

We Can Help

If your budget needs a little tweaking, stay tuned for more ideas coming from our website.  Or even better, contact us directly.  Send me a PM and we can get started with a tailor-made budget ready to serve the needs of your business or family.