« Economy’s Slide | Home | Little Savings »
Pad your budget
By Daphne | September 15, 2008
Realistic budgeting.
If you plan to spend less than you actually do, then you will be in a bind when it comes time to pay other bills. Adding a little cushion to one or more areas of your spending plan also allows you to have a better grasp of your spending habits.
Even within reason, padding your budget or even rounding up based on your past expenses helps make things easier. If your electric bill is generally $42-$44 dollars a month, you may want to budget $45 or even $50 for electric when making your spending plan. This also applies for the
telephone bills or any other expenses that fluctuate in price. For fixed price expenditures you can round up to the nearest dollar if you prefer.
It may not seem like a really big deal but if you budget for less than you actually spend and don’t have the money then you will really be in a bind. Budgeting realistically can also help you figure out how much you need to live on and how much you spend on necessities.
If you are changing jobs or careers and are offered a salary that is less than what you previously made, having a clear idea of how much you spend on necessities monthly can help you decide whether or not the position will cover your expenses.
An added benefit of rounding up your monthly expenses is that you have a greater idea of what you need and if something happens such as longer phone conversations, or used more electricity for air conditioning or fans in a certain month, you are still covered.
Topics: September 2008 |
September 16th, 2008 at 7:08 am
Since I get paid weekly, I try to live on 50 weeks income to create a little pad room…
For instance, say cell phone is $50 a month. That’s $600 per year, divided by 50 weeks is $12 per week. But that really comes to $624 per year, giving me $24 pad per year. It isn’t much, but over time it builds my emergency fund.