Management Problem - Budgeting
I read the management problems of my classmates and I should admit I feel lucky that I got over my time-management and team-management problems long ago.
A problem that I sure do have though is budgeting. I wonder whether I am a lonely warrior because i did not see any posts on the theme.
Effective budgeting was always tricky for me, but now when summer paychecks are over but summer habits stay and school bills come it is more difficult than ever to keep expenses under control.
I know that budgeting is about setting up objectives, staying focused, creating priority lists, and keeping expenses in check. I am doing all that. I also tried something new recently. I set up a goal to save enough to double my CD by the time of maturity. This goal made me work more hours and spend less. It was an effective goal; however, energy consuming too. If I keep on setting goals like that, one day i may get too tired to carry on. Besides that, cutting on some simple leisure items such as coffee, books, songs, and movies is painful.
If someone knows other tricks on how to hold on to a budget, I would much appreciate the advice.
Sincerely,
Anastassia
posted by Anastassia @ 12:06 PM
5 Comments
5 Comments:
Hi Anastassia, I had to answer your post because I was in a similar budgeting situation. It's funny how accounts handle OPM but not their own :). I literally had to make a spreadsheet to budget almost every dime for a year to get thing under control and it has worked out so well. Apply the things you learn in your accounting classes and on the job to your life and you'll manage your budget.
I really like your idea of setting a financial goal as a means to help you save; I have done the same and found that it works really well. One thing that I can suggest is getting ALL of your financial transactions down on paper. This allows you to step back and really analyze where your spending money and where your not spending money. A friend of mine had me try this and I was shocked at the amount of money I spent on things like food and clothing.
Mike,
Thank you very much for the comment. I am trying to keep meticulous records of my expenses by charging everything to one credit card. Then at the end of the month I transfer the statement into Excel and sort it by amounts and categories. However, many of my friends say that it's crazy to charge Starbucks coffee. Crazy or not, it does get the job done :)
I really like your idea of prioritizing the things which are more imp in life because I myself have the same situation with me but i dont how to handle it. its pretty hactic because everytime I try to do this I ended up either spending too much or too less.sometimes I dont give priority to things which I should be giving. So thank you so much for bring this up.
Saving money is something we all struggle with. It's tough...On one hand you want to be able to enjoy yourself, go out, buy the things you want, but you also want to save money.
Currently, our economy sucks and people are struggling to pay their mortgage and bills, so spending money on things you don't really need is totally out of the question.
My suggestion to your budgeting issue is to try and have an "automatic savings plan". Everytime you get paid, transfer a small amount (small enough that it will not affect your "cash flow") - I would suggest $ 10.00-$ 25.00 every 2 weeks (as most people get paid twice a month). It may not seem much, but it will definitely add up. That's how I started.
Aura
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