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budgeting

Budgeting a synopsis

A budget is the most fundamental part of gaining financial independence.

calculator,notebook and cash as tools to create and track your budget
Photo by olia danilevich from Pexels

Plan Income and Expenses

With a budget, you plan and control the money in-flows, as well as the out-flows. It documents your cash flow. A budget needs to be balanced, which means you are not spending more than your earn in income.

Set financial goals and reach them

The principal goal is to align your budget with your financial goals. A good budget is one that prioritizes saving to achieve your various financial goals in the future.

Be in control of your money

The benefit of budgeting is to keep control of your finance, to make conscious decisions about your money. This is in contrast to always being broke and living paycheck to paycheck.

Budgeting is communicating priorities

You can create budgets in different contexts:

  • A personal budget for singles or a student
  • A family or household budget
  • A budget for a vacation or a building project

Whatever the context a budget communicates spending priorities amongst its creators and users. In marriage, it should be the source of agreement about incomes and spending levels. Similarly, in a household formed by a group of people, it documents agreements on priorities and limits of shared expenses.

A budget can be minimal

Accountants might want to make you believe that a budget should be as detailed as possible. This may be true for businesses, where the concept emerged and where hundreds of stakeholders need to be aligned. However, in the realm of personal budgeting, you rather want to budget only as much as necessary to meet the goal. If your goal is to save 20% of net income and you reach this goal 10 – 11 months of the year, then there is no need to analyze your spending habits down to how many coffees you buy at Starbucks. However, if you have to pinch pennies at the end of the month to put food on the table, you want to have a closer look at where your money goes.

Enjoy our many articles written on the subject of budgeting:

What are valuable budgeting skills for students?

What are valuable budgeting skills for students? Earning a college degree requires two connected budgets. You need skills to draw up a project budget for the full 4-year term. Furthermore, you need to create a monthly budget. Tracking and maintaining the budgets is an essential skill you will need.  Your project budget’s purpose is to […]

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Why do you need a family budget?

Through budgeting, family members agree on a plan for income, expenses, and savings. The family budget is important for everyone to only spend money within the plan’s limits. This prevents overspending and keeps family finances balanced. One important attribute of a good family budget is transparency. Communicating income levels and spending budgets as well as

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The 11+ essential personal budget categories to consider

In this article, I want to present you here with a comprehensive list of personal budget categories. I will discuss what each category should include and what it shouldn’t, as well as highlight the why. However, this is not a template you should blindly follow. Instead, you should select the categories that fit your financial

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