WHERE DO I GET STARTED?

Monday, March 02, 2020 AnnMarie Brown 0 Comments

I am back!

 I won't go on about where I was and why I took a break from blogging all you need to know is that I am back. I love blogging and have a passion for it and sharing information that has helped me over the years of living large on a small budget. The question I always get is Where do I start? or How do I get started?
Photo by Tierra Mallorca on Unsplash
There is no need to put off what you can start today until tomorrow because we all know that tomorrow never comes. I have always found it best to record our spending habits over the course of a minimum of 2 months but 3 months is better. That does not mean that you can not set up a budget for you or your family to follow now. You can still do that but remember when you are setting up a budget for the first time without recording your spending habits it leading up to it you must have some sort of buffer because it is hard to get a 100% accurate budget without prior knowledge of your spending. 

 When you are recording your expenses they are going to fall into one of two categories - essential and optional. Essential expenses are things that you can not cut. For me, those things include my mortgage, house taxes, insurances, utilities, food bill, and cellphone bill. Even though to me a cellphone bill is something you can save on I can not totally cut it from my budget on a monthly basis. My food bill contains essential items for general nutrition but it also contains items I can cut back on so I put it under my essential because we need to stay healthy. 

 You are the only person who can decide what is essential and optional to your situation. For everyone this is different and there is no right or wrong. Remember comparison is a joy robber so do what is best for you and your family. The point is to understand what you have left once the things you value are taken care of on a monthly basis. 

 For my family becoming debt-free is a goal we are working towards. It is very important to us to be debt-free so that we can then, in turn, use our money to help bless others. We do live off of one income only so taking even the little steps to become out of debt is important. 

 Tracking your spending will give you a true picture of where you are financially and where you can make cutbacks that are comfortable for your family. 

 Let's Chat!

 Where have you been able to cut back financially?