Budgeting that can boost your income

swan6060

How do you build a budget that you can follow? i often build a budget but I am unable to go along with it

door1

I think you should start by jotting down your earnings. Then you should keep track of your expenses and categorise them. That way, you'll know where to make adjustments to your budget. Start by making a list of all your fixed expenses. It's unlikely that you'll be able to reduce these. Then make a list of all your variable costs. This is an area where you might be able to save money. Make a list of all the financial goals you want to achieve after that. Make a plan using this calculation. Continue to go over everything. To keep on track. This is a good budgeting approach that you can use, in my opinion.

Brie

I agree that you need to know what's coming in and out before you can decide how to change it.  easy enough to set up a spreadsheet to track the ins and outs.  There's a SOA available somewhere here that would be a good basis to ensure you don't miss anything.  That and keeping a spending diary might shake out a few surprises that you can trim to get the boost you are after.

Brie

Here tis!

https://www.lemonfool.co.uk/financecalculators/soa.php

swan6060

Looks great. The problem is this process takes so much of my time. I just thought if there would be something that would be quicker. and easier to track everything

Opera12

Emma and Nova Money are the two I've tried. Both are highly recommended. Personally, I prefer Nova. It's completely free. You can set financial goals, and it will use your spending patterns to track them and also anticipate when they will be completed. There's also videos about personal finance and education on the app.

kimwp

I agree with the above about understanding your spend first off. Then it's worth thinking about why you go over your budget. Is it unrealistic (which is why you have to understand your spend), is it that you don't have a good idea of what you are spending and what is left in your budget (you'll need to track it more frequently) or is it that you know you are going over budget, but continue to spend? 

mikep22

swan6060 said:

Looks great. The problem is this process takes so much of my time. I just thought if there would be something that would be quicker. and easier to track everything

well....yeh. This stuff is going to take you time and effort....though in reality its not that long, I can set up a spreadsheet (ones are free with google docs) in about an hour, then it only needs updating each week....but you also know then exactly what is going in and out, which is very beneficial - no surprises.

Unsure why the thread is in the boost your income bit if its about budgeting?

Sounds like your initial needs is to work out your base income and expenditure - then stick to it (theres no shortcuts here...) 

I would never include anything I earn in "boosting my income" as part of my income budget. Yes, I may commonly earn, say £60-70 a month, but it is volatile - and if I dont earn that and I have budgeted for it, then I could end up short. Much better to not plan for the income, and if and when it does arrive it can either go into savings or bonus money. 

kimwp

mikep22 said:

swan6060 said:

Looks great. The problem is this process takes so much of my time. I just thought if there would be something that would be quicker. and easier to track everything

well....yeh. This stuff is going to take you time and effort....though in reality its not that long, I can set up a spreadsheet (ones are free with google docs) in about an hour, then it only needs updating each week....but you also know then exactly what is going in and out, which is very beneficial - no surprises.

Unsure why the thread is in the boost your income bit if its about budgeting?

Sounds like your initial needs is to work out your base income and expenditure - then stick to it (theres no shortcuts here...) 

I would never include anything I earn in "boosting my income" as part of my income budget. Yes, I may commonly earn, say £60-70 a month, but it is volatile - and if I dont earn that and I have budgeted for it, then I could end up short. Much better to not plan for the income, and if and when it does arrive it can either go into savings or bonus money. 

The site could do with a general money management area somewhere (unless it already has one).

radoslaff

It's all about discipline. No matter what budget you make or how much money you have if you don't meticulously stick to the plan you will always end up in trouble. If I were you, I would try the jar system by T. Harv Eker. I'm actually doing it and it's a freaking life changer.