Saving. No other word strikes as much fear in my heart, except Debt. Handling money has never really been something i'm good at. Frankly, when I get money, I seem to want to get rid of it as soon as possible. I was always broke, and could never really afford to buy what I wanted. Luckily, I have a boyfriend who has spent MANY hours helping me learn how to save money, and still feel like I can drop thirty-six dollars on a concealor, no problems. So today, I decided to show you what works for me, in the form of a few tips and tricks.
1. Sit down and figure out how much you earn, how much you're currently spending per week, how much you want to save (I recommend ten percent, to begin with.)
2. After deducting your bills and mandatory payments, see how much you have left. Is it $60, 70? 100?? Ie if you earn $500 per week, and pay $200 rent, and then have to pay $100 for bills and food, you will have $200 left. Of that, try and save twenty, or even thirty.
3. Then, out of whatever is left over, decide how much is going to be your allowance.The trick is to not make this too tight, Just like your jeans, they need to be a tad roomy and be capable of still being comfy even in times of indulgence. Personally, I get $40 of 'need' money, this goes towards things like food, medicine, razors...that sort of thing. I also get $40 of 'want' money. Every week I decide whether I need to buy something, or if I can afford to purely buy wants. If I do, then any food or little things can be spent out of need money. If however, I need to buy some things, then food and every day expenses will come out of my want pot. Anything that is left over at the end of the week, simply carries over into the next weeks' budget.
I found that if I restricted myself, and gave myself $50 for the entire week, I would rebel and blow $100 on wahtever it was that I wanted. Hence, that week I would actually be spending $150 on myself. Talk about planning to fail. However, having $80 in total meant that I felt less restricted, and although it isn't the easiest thing to do, I manage to stick to it. The other thing I have learnt is not to spend my 'want' money on the first night that I get it. I try to hold onto it until at least the weekend, so that i'm not caught out if something happens. For example, on the first night that I got my money, I spent all of my want money at Benefit.. But when I ended up going shopping with my boyfriend, I saw a gorgeous skirt for $15 dollars. Too good to pass up yeah? Luckily, David bought it for me. But if I had saved my money, I could have bought a top to go with it, and the Benefit stuff next week.
Ofcourse you don't have to copy my plan. You can just take away my lessons, and be real about what you need, what you can afford and how you can handle it. This formula is working well for me, but it may not for you. But if you want to, try it. I've been slowly working towards a great budget solution for two years now, and i'm not one hundred percent close. But I am alot closer, for trying.
It all becomes about smart spending, not self restriction. Oddly enough, that's how eating for weight loss and health works. If we can chocolate, chips and lollies, we will begin to fantasize about them, and eventually we eat all of them, and absolutely "fall off the wagon." well, actually, more like we blew up the wagon and buried the remains, as if it never existed.
So take a step back, think realistically, and do your best. If it doesn't work, then simply try again.
Thank-you for reading,
Britt. xx
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