You are a two income family, sharing and spreading the wealth amongst yourselves. All of a sudden, you are forced into retirement.  Or you are happily married one moment and your spouse passes away the next.  At that point, your checkbook has a heart attack!

Many people just aren’t capable of living within a budget. Why is that? Most likely, it is because you never had to worry about budgeting or because you were never taught how to create and stick to a budget.

Take baby steps when assisting people with their budget plans. You don’t just go from college graduate to the CEO of a Fortune 500 company in a day, and the same can be said for going from a two income family to a one income family.

The reality in budgeting effectively runs much deeper than just figuring out how to live with less. As money matters enter into your personal relationships as well. If you’re stressed out about money, you will not be happy in your personal relationships & you certainly would not be happy working at home.

So, start small. For instance, instead of looking at how much money you don’t have to spend when you have income, look at how much you need. We all have the same expenses that are vital to living. Such as mortgage or rent, food, utilities, savings, etc. Those bills should be paid first. Then you have the disposable income, or what’s left from your pay, to spend on needs or wants beyond the necessities.

Say you are planning to buy new clothes for yourself. Starting small with your budget means not over-spending when you go shopping. To do that, you must know what you are looking for before you go to the mall. First, decide how much you can spend and then what  you need to purchase. You have $50 to spend and you need three new shirts and/or blouses. That would mean you can only spend about $16 apiece. Is this realistic? Can you buy all that you plan to buy on that amount? If you cannot, then you need to find alternative ways to outfit yourself, such as shopping at thrift stores, visiting garage sales or learning to sew. With some savvy shopping and planning, you should not have any trouble getting the some nice shirts and/or blouses within your means.

While making your list, go through your clothes, seeing what you have that still fits though isn’t in perfect condition but that could be paired with a pair of shorts or blue jeans. Additionally, take all of your jeans or slacks that have holes in the knees and cut them off for shorts — you don’t have to wear them in public but they would be perfectly fine to wear them around the house. Once you’ve cleaned out your clothes, you may be able to pare down your list or have specific items to match your new purchases to.  Such as, you have a nice blue skirt and you need a complimentary or coordinating blouse to go with it.  Be specific and only purchase the items that are on your list — no matter how great a sale you may find.  Beware of those “buy one at full price, get the second at half-price” sales.  You can bust your budget on just those items and return home without the specific items on your list. 

Start your budget small. Know what you need when you go to the store, and do not let your emotions over something very adorable sway. Shop wisely, not emotionally.  Once you learn how to manage your money on such a small purchase, you will then be able to use your new-found skill on bigger items!

© Tammy Harrison – All Rights Reserved.