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Originally Posted On: https://kingcash.ca/7-easy-budgeting-ideas-to-try-in-2023/
Studies show that nearly 30% of Canadians have never created a budget for themselves or their family. Those that did create a budget often hadn’t reviewed or updated their budgets in months. If you want to improve your finances during the new year, creating a new budget is one of the easiest ways you can do this!
Do you need help improving your budgeting method for the next year? Keep reading this guide for the top seven easy budgeting ideas to try in 2023.
1. Start Weekly and Monthly Monitoring
One of the best budgeting ideas you can incorporate into your financial planning is weekly and monthly monitoring.
While it may be tempting to create a budget and never look back, you have to do some extra work to make sure you are sticking to the budget you created.
Each week, you should have a discussion with all of the people in your household to ensure that you are each on the same page. You can discuss the income and expenses for the week to make sure that no one is overspending.
Monitoring your finances each week and month will make it easier for you to prepare your budget for future months.
2. Learn About Types of Budgets
Next, you can learn about different budgeting methods. This way, you can consider your financial needs and choose a budgeting method that works best for you.
For example, you may want to do a pay-yourself-first budget. This type of budget focuses on growing your savings and repaying your debt. This is a great option if you are saving up for something specific or if you are trying to pay off loans.
You can also do a 50/30/20 budget. This requires less work than other types of budgeting and allows you to break down your budget into a few categories. Your necessary expenses add up to 50% of your budget and your discretionary expenses make up an additional 30%.
Then, you can use the remaining 20% for your savings and debt repayment.
Learning about each of these types of budgets can help you find the best ways to budget for your needs.
3. Cut Up Your Credit Cards
While credit cards can be a helpful tool that can improve your finances, they can also make it easy to get deeper and deeper into debt. One thing you can do to improve your budgeting is to cut up your credit cards.
Too often, people forget that credit cards require real money. This makes it easy to spend money that you don’t have in your budget each month.
Cutting up your credit cards will help you lower your debt and will ensure that you only spend the money that you actually have.
4. Use Budgeting Apps
There are many different online tools and budgeting apps that make budgeting simple and effective! Using one of these makes it easy to plan your budget and track your spending from your phone.
Often, budgeting apps will even connect with your bank accounts and track your spending in different categories!
Utilizing a budgeting app will help you avoid falling behind on your budget and will make it easier to meet your financial goals.
5. Budget to Zero
One of the easiest ways you can improve your finances is to budget to zero. This means that every dollar that you earn will have a purpose. If you add up all of your income and subtract all of your expenses, you shouldn’t have any money left over.
This doesn’t mean that you should spend all of the money you make each month. Instead, you just need to have a plan for where all of your money is going.
For example, you may have some of your money going to monthly expenses like rent, food, and utilities. Then, you can allocate a certain percentage of money to go to your savings or your emergency fund.
With a zero-based budget, you will not have any leftover money for the month and you will not be tempted to overspend.
6. Use Cash for Certain Budgeting Categories
If you have certain areas of your budget that you regularly overspend on, you may want to start using cash to pay for this part of your budget! This is also known as an envelope system. Instead of using a credit card or debit card, you set aside a certain amount of money in an envelope.
Once the money runs out, you cannot spend more!
For example, you can bring cash with you while you grocery shopping. This way, you will be less tempted to buy snacks or other things that you don’t need. Instead, you will have to carefully add up the prices of your groceries before you check out!
7. Adjust and Reevaluate Your Budget
Finally, it is important that you learn to adjust and reevaluate your budget as necessary. While many people try to stick to the same budget month after month, this may not be possible for people with irregular finances.
Plus, every month is different. Whether you make less money in a certain month or you have an unexpected expense, it is important that you are flexible with your budget. As you monitor your budget each month, you can adjust your budget for future months to make it easier for you to reach your goals.
Need Help Executing Your Budgeting Ideas?
Creating and sticking to a budget is one of the easiest ways you can gain financial freedom. Following each of these budgeting ideas can help you stick to a budget and reach your goals!
If you need help executing your budgeting ideas each month, Kingcash can help! We offer online loans and free financial advice that can help you stay on track.
Contact us today to learn more about budgeting or to apply for an online loan!
