A NEW BUDGET CAN MAKE YOU FEEL A WHOLE LOT BETTER
We all live with a lot of stress these days. From Facebook tiffs to arguments about politics or your rotisserie league, it’s easy to let things that should be fun breed anxiety and worry. A good way to avoid this is to make sure your financial situation is on, at the very least, an even keel. And a sure way to do that is to create a personal budget for yourself so that you can boost your savings. Then you’ll find, remarkably, that those spats on Social Media and arguments with your other acquaintances, both on and off line, will become less important and, thus, less frequent and a whole lot less stressful.
WHERE SHOULD YOU START?
A tried and true way to start on your new budgeting journey is by simply downloading your last two months of bank and credit card statements. Go through each and every transaction and list them as either essential, ie. rent, utilities, transport, food, clothing, etc., and nonessential, i.e. all the rest. This process will show you as quickly, easily and as obviously as possible where to cut, and what to keep.
If you are the owner of a small business, you should probably consult a professional before you get too deep into the budgeting process, such as the experts at LYFE Accounting, where you’ll have the advice of experienced counselors who specialize in financial situations like yours.
WHERE DO YOU CUT?
Well, first thing, how about dumping those season tickets to your local big-league team’s games. Maybe you justified the original purchase as a way to reward your clients for their loyalty by slipping them some tickets every once in a while, but in today’s world where a new bid quote for any contract is merely a couple of clicks, and a few emails away, gratuities like sports contests are a thing of the past. Just watch your team on TV and skip the hassle of game-day traffic and all the stress that exercise entails.
And speaking of TV, why not ditch that satellite or cable package and buy one of the new digital HD free TV antennas? They work great and the picture quality is even better than dish or cable because your picking up each station directly from the source, without all the video compression required to squeeze all those channels into a coaxial cable or a satellite feed. Depending on your location, you could end up receiving dozen upon dozens of new channels. Because of new legislation passed in 2005, each channel that the FCC grants to a broadcaster can now be split into several more channels with their own unique programming. There’s an amazing pile of new channels out there just waiting for you to access them, with your new, free TV, HD antenna. Try it.
Do you own a boat? There’s an old saying: “If it flies or floats – RENT it.” There’s another old saying: “The two happiest days in your life are the day you buy your boat – and the day you sell it.” Sell the boat. If you have an overwhelming desire to go out on the water again? You can rent just about any kind of boat imaginable, for a few hours, and then turn it back over to the poor chump who has to clean it, service it, dock it, insure it, and scrape the bottom once-a-year.
Are you stuck in an expensive, luxury car lease? There are companies, like Swap a Lease, that specialize in trading your lease on that expensive land-yacht (that you thought you had to have – and now regret leasing every-single day). You’ll lose a little on the transfer, but it’s better than paying a premium every month on something you don’t need or want anymore. Then, once you get out of the lease, find a low-mileage, sensible car, like a Toyota Camry, on one of the online auto-trading websites, buy it and drive that sucker ‘til the wheels fall off. Don’t waste money on cars.
NOW IT’S ON TO THE SAVINGS
Once you’ve identified the many places to cut expenses, you can get down to the business of fine-tuning your budget. Your goal should be to cut expenses until you are living on under 90% of your income, each month. A savings rate of 10% or better will start to add up faster than you’d think. And then once you start investing these savings in compound interest bearing accounts, so that you are basically earning money for simply breathing, you’ll be pleasantly surprised at how your savings pile grows. There are few cures for stress and anxiety as effective as a sizeable savings account.
