The Biggest Budget Busters and How to Avoid Them

budget busters

How is it possible that at the end of each month you are still over your budget and things did not go your way? Your savings is not growing, because you cannot figure out how to keep your spending in track. It’s a never-ending cycle when you cannot figure out what the problem is, where in the budget it lies and how to fix it. It happens, and it’s not pretty. However, it’s probably because you have fallen victim to some of the most common budgeting mistakes around. It happens to the best of us, but the good news is that it’s something we can very easily rectify. Here are the biggest budgeting mistakes you’re making, and tips on no longer making these mistakes.

You don’t budget for extras

Listen, it’s always a bit of a downer when you suddenly realize that you have additional expenses at any given time. This weekend would have been a prime example of that for us if we had this budgeting issue. We had two birthday parties for kids in our families and we had Valentine’s Day to celebrate with our kids and one another, my mom’s birthday and my parent’s anniversary. If you don’t plan for things like that, it can be a huge budget-breaker.

Being too strict

When you tell yourself that you absolutely cannot have something or do something or put money somewhere, you are so much more likely to fail your goal. It’s like going on a diet and saying you can never have chocolate – which you love – ever again. The more you deprive yourself, the harder you fall. Give a little, and you’ll save a lot.

Not making a goal

Here’s the deal; we budget for a reason. However, we have to have goals. You are more likely to fail at budgeting if you don’t have an end goal in mind. So let’s say your goal is to have this many dollars in savings and then you can start allocating the additional savings to your vacation fund for a wonderful trip to Italy. When you have a goal, you’re far more likely to save money and have a great time.

 Photo by Getty Images

Comments

Leave a Reply

Loading…

0