7 budgeting tricks to help reduce debt
Hey loves,
Hope you all are doing great! We are almost to the end of the year and at the start of every year one of my resolution repeats every time! That resolution is budgeting money. Budgeting to me is a skill that is hard to achieve and it always play a very integral role in our financial stability. Budgeting helps get out of debts and stop building huge debts itself. So let me go through a few tricks I use myself which helps in budgeting and keeping my debts in check.
Budgeting Tricks
- Automate your bill payment
Automating your finances like bills or expenses does not only have benefit of not forgetting to pay but also ensures that all of your money will be allocated to the appropriate account/bill/expense before you have the chance to spend it. Tally up all your bills, then set up an automated bank transfer for the total amount each month, ideally just after payday.
- Grow your savings.
Set a target of a certain amount of savings every month and save it as soon as you get paid. It’s not enough to simply put your money into a savings account and wait. You need to invest your savings into investments that will bring you returns, or your savings will lose value because of inflation.
- Plan variable expenses
We always tend to spend more than we plan on entertainment and food. So it is very important to plan these expenses ahead. Set a target for every month and stop once you hit the target.
Apart from your regular savings account, put money aside for planned large such as buying a tv or holiday shopping.
- Compare prices online.
One thing I always do when shopping for various items, I compare prices online. Oftentimes it pays to take the time to get multiple quotes, particularly when shopping for utilities, mortgages, insurance and other services.
- Use online budgeting tools.
We all love to take piece of paper and start writing or use excel to calculate and track budget. What I would suggest is use more expert help through apps and websites online. Here are some fantastic budgeting sites and apps where you can keep track of your spending from one pay period to the next.
- Prioritize expenses and goals
There are actually 3 types of expenses – necessities, needs and wants Understand the difference between needs and wants here. The rule is to focus on the essentials first — those include groceries, housing and transportation costs. Then comes the needs and then wants. Finally the remaining goes to savings and debt.
The 50/30/20 budget is a good guideline for covering the major spending categories. It suggests using 50% of your income toward needs, 30% toward wants and 20% toward savings and debt.
7. Leave room for surprises
Even after budgeting for so long, every month I face surprise expenses like the occasional buy or birthdays and anniversaries or guest at the house! Don’t expect your budget to be perfect. Surprises will happen, and some expenses may slip through the cracks. Take precautions and keep a small budget handy for surprise expenses.
Keep debts in check
Debts are an integral part of North American life. 9 out of 10 families in North America carry debts. What my experience says is you cannot remove debt from your life but you can control it. You can control debt to a certain amount only and not go beyond which is possible for you to pay back. Budgeting helps a lot to keep debts in check and the above tips and tricks can help in the process.
If you need help in managing your debts you can get a lot of resources, tools and programs in the below website which is my favourite! They have a very talented and dedicated team who can help you in debt consolidation and debt settlement. Check it out now:
https://www.debtconsolidation.com/
Hope all of you liked my tips and tricks for budget management and will try out yourself. Let me know how it works, also if you have any different budgeting tips, do share in comments. Also do check the debt consolidation and settlement website I shared and let me know how you like. Bye for now and will come soon with some new tips and tricks.
XOXO
That Neon Girl
