6 Budgeting Tips To Help You Survive Before The Next Payday. We’ve all been there. You place an online order for that awesome (fill in the gap for your vice-I mean item of choice). You look at the delivery date and feel elated because it falls a day after your payday. But alas, your parcel arrives 3 days earlier. Your shock is genuine. You check your wallet, and just like your 9 to 5 job, it has nothing to offer.
Your flatmate looks at you with that same look your dad gave you when you said you’re no longer pursuing your Medical degree. You look at the wide-eyed, toothy delivery guy and begin to think the universe hates you.
6 Budgeting Tips To Help You Survive Before The Next Payday
Things would have gone a different direction had you learned to save up. It is not a condemnation. It is just that with how the economy looks, you can’t afford to be lenient. But recession or no recession, there is wisdom in knowing when to spend and what you should spend on. The days before your payday are crucial as they test your financial intelligence. But if you prove challenged in this area, we bestow no judgment. We want to help you out.
Is it just you or is the universe really cruel?
To answer the question on our first header, no. The universe is not cruel to you. Is it just you then? Also a no. Keeping a regular job is good for paying the bills and paying your taxes. However, it cannot cover all your expenses. As this is the case, you need to set a budget. This article outlines six tips to help you maintain a budget before your payday.
Don’t Get Stuck In a Bind. Save Up Before Your Time’s Up! Here are 6 Ways To Get You Started
1. Cut Back On Your Bills
Working out a budget becomes challenging when you have a lot of bills to pay. Anyone who has a job and maintains a place to live has bills to account for monthly; there is no way around it. But then, you might want to check what you are paying. Maybe you can cut down on your energy bills by conserving energy. Look around your house and try to find home appliances you have left plugged in.
If your electronics have clocks or timers that run despite not being used, you might want to turn them off altogether. Called energy vampires, such electronics consume a lot of energy needlessly. The same goes for any home appliance with a standby mode, such as television sets, PCs, and laptops.
Check your water consumption as well. There may be times that you leave the faucet open when you are trying to wash hard-to-clean cookware. You may have also kept the water running while soaping your hands in the sink or scrubbing your body in the shower. These little things that we often take for granted accumulate costs. Before you know it, the costs have become burdens.
You also have to ask yourself if your monthly subscriptions for various media are worth it. Do you need to subscribe to that streaming service? If so, why? How about those monthly hobby boxes that come in the mail, how are they relevant to your life? Do you make money out of them or are they mere expenses? You have to be sharper about these things to save up.
Managing your monthly utility bills is like managing employee leaves: record them before they are consumed.
2. Side Chick, No. Side Hustle, YES!
Regardless if you work from home or on-site, there will always be a chance for you to take on extra work.
In light of the switch to remote work set-ups, looking for part-time work has become easier. Some employers offer 4-hour jobs that you can accommodate daily without compromising your personal time. Some side jobs only require weekly output. No matter your choice, you only have to know how to manage your time effectively to earn extra without stressing yourself out.
3. Start a Meal Plan
Planning your meals ahead of time is not only for bodybuilders; it is also for the financially literate. Preparing your meals allows you to determine extraneous food expenses that you might be making mindlessly. Sometimes, the small snacks between your main meals of the day become sizable monthly costs.
Your food deliveries are also costing you a lot. Ask yourself how significant your weekly deliveries are, or for that matter, your regular eat-outs with friends or family.
By becoming conscious of your food spending habits, you can filter out your food expenses. And who knows? It might even help you establish a healthier diet.
4. Plastic Ain’t Gonna Help You
Credit cards are helpful to some extent. They allow you to build good credit history and credibility. However, we tend to abuse it. Before you know it, you have already exceeded your credit limit.
It is advisable to carry cash if you plan on doing a supply run. And while you are budgeting the paper you plan on taking, create a list of what to buy.
In general, using credit cards requires financial literacy. Train yourself to limit its usage if you cannot simply cut your card. Likewise, discipline yourself to bring only a specific amount of money.
5. Oooh, A Sale! Pluck Your Eye Out.
If you gravitate toward sales, chances are, you buy things that may be cheap but are unnecessary. As this is the case, you have to stay away from sales.
If you must check out what’s on display, ask yourself if you need to take them home. If you do, ask yourself if you can postpone the purchase when you have the money to spare. If you have lived without it for a long time, it is unnecessary.
6. Start an Emergency Fund
If you constantly run short on funds in the most urgent of times, you need to build an emergency fund.
Even the most thrifty of individuals fall into hard times unprepared. As this is the case, you might want to start taking portions of your earnings every cutoff and dedicate it to your emergency fund. You can start with 5% of your pay every payout. If you can manage it, increase it to 10%. This will result in a decent sum in the long term that will help you cover unexpected expenses.
It Pays To Know Your Limits
Saving up for rainy days is better than paying off your debts. If you find yourself stuck and gasping for breath before payday, you might have spent on something you cannot afford.
Knowing your financial limits is a sign of a healthy financial mindset. If you are conscious of what you need to spend on versus what you want to buy because you just gotta have it is a sign that you are on your way to becoming financially responsible. And that’s all about the 6 Budgeting Tips To Help You Survive Before The Next Payday.
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