Getting up from a financial rut requires a lot of willpower and discipline. Budgeting and sticking to a budget may sound a bit cliché, but if you put it in practice, you might soon find yourself paying off your bdo credit card balance, building wealth and taking the road to financial freedom. There are so many budgeting methods, but these basics or old-school means are still the best and easiest ones to practice.
Jars Money Management
You may practice this method with actual jars or no, but it is an effective means of breaking down your budget according to different purposes. The jars may have different percentage of your budget and you can consider them according to their importance. These jars include –
- Necessity Jar – for all your basic expenses such as housing, food and utilities thus the one with the largest percentage.
- Financial Freedom Jar – the percentage of your budget here can be used for investments, businesses and income generating feat.
- Education Jar – can be used to fuel you and your children’s future and personal growth.
- Long Term Savings – percentage of your budget which you can use for big-time investments such as a house or car, or a cruise vacation!
- Play Jar – accommodates expenses for short term purchases and entertainment.
- Tithing Jar – for helping others, charity and donations.
This type of budgeting easily reminds you where you need to place your money and gives your financial status visibly.
The Envelop System
This probably is the simplest and traditional type of budgeting. It rely on a series of envelop labeled with different categories where you have to put budget into such as food allowance, payment for bpi credit card, transportation allowance and others. These envelops depend on your need and you will divide your money for each envelop and this specific envelop will only be the one you will touch for corresponding expense. Keep in mind that you must not transfer money from one envelop to another so when one category run of money you have to stop spending for it.
This method forces an individual to be realistic with his or her spending thus, you have to get a clear picture of your expenses to properly allocate a budget for it. It may take a while to master this budgeting type, a few adjustments and soon you will be able to allocate your money on corresponding envelops effectively.
Pen and Paper Budgeting
A rather rudimentary but a very effective means of budgeting, the pen and paper method of budgeting requires only a small notebook and pen. You simply have to jot down all your expenses in a day and lessen them from your usable income.
This is a great method for newbie budgets because it is easy and simple and it cultivates one’s habit of tracking down expenses. This way you become aware of where your money goes and how you are spending your income. However, this can become tiring and time consuming for some because it has to be done consistently so having willpower and discipline is necessary to make this work.
