The easy way to stay financially fit on a shoestring budget? Here’s what you may want to try: monthly budgeting. How?
First, collect your monthly income. Then allot it into different expense categories. Basics include:
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- food
- utilities
- home (mortgage or rent, repair and improvement, etc.)
- health and medical
- transportation
- entertainment/ recreation
- clothing
- savings
- miscellaneous
You can have more or fewer expense categories depending on your need. Some may want to have others such as family obligation for baby care, financial support for aged parents, etc.
How much should go into each category depends on what lifestyle you want for the month. This means the amount do not necessarily stay the same for each of your expense categories.
It’s simple how I allocate my income into my expense categories. I use labelled envelopes kept in my safe for all categories except savings.
Track expenses?
I do not track my expenses. I prefer to spend time with my family or reading, writing, enjoying myself and my thoughts and all beings around me. More importantly, you don’t need to track your expenses to stay financially fit even on a shoestring budget.
Every time you need to spend, you take money out of your designated envelope. Then you will know how financially healthy you are for the month and can adjust your lifestyle or budget accordingly.
