Certain times of the year certainly take it’s toll on the budget. Christmas, stressful times, seasons of being on the go, even just summer fun can make your budget fall to the side. Taking some time to refresh your budget can seem like a big undertaking when you are coming out of one of these seasons. It’s definitely overwhelming to think about but it doesn’t have to be. Following these steps I can show you how simple it can be to refresh your budget in just three steps.
Refresh Your Budget
Look at the previous year
Take a peek at your budget for your current month from the previous year. Most likely, it will be pretty similar to what you need now. Adjust things as needed. If you have more or less income coming in, change that. If you had a change of any other kind, make it. Hopefully, you don’t have too much to change so this will be a fast step. Even if you do have a lot to change, it will still give you a decent starting point. It will be much simpler than starting from scratch.
Ignore the previous few months
What? Ignore the last few months? But, Julie, didn’t you tell us to look at previous months when we set up our original budget? Yes, I did. But since you went completely off budget recently, you want to ignore your numbers from those months. They will not be accurate for what you need to do now. So forget them! The only time to don’t want to forget them is if your budget really needs to change. Which leads us to the next and final step.
Budget out of control or completely ignored? Try these three steps to refresh your #budget! Click To TweetFigure out where you want to be
Since you went off budget, you probably have some areas where you can cut back to help counteract that. Is it your groceries and household? Or maybe you ate out too much recently. Figure out what is actually doable for you in each category. Maybe you had your dining out budget far too low and blew it. Find a better amount for that category and cut back in another to make up for it. Maybe your grocery shopping was out of control. Figure out what you’d prefer it to be and adjust as necessary. (If you are looking to cut back on groceries, be sure to check out this post and this post and look into this course by Crystal Paine, the Money Saving Mom.)
See? Three simple steps and your budget will be back where it belongs. It doesn’t have to be a daunting or overwhelming task. It also doesn’t need to take up a lot of your time. If you don’t have a ton to adjust, it should take you about 30 minutes if you just sit down and focus on it.
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