The pandemic has not been too grateful for many people. Some lost their jobs, while others saw a pay cut. With the economy struggling, it is becoming increasingly difficult to cope up with monthly expenses. With that in mind, in this article, we will discuss some ways to keep up with your monthly budget to cut some of your expenses so that you do not fall behind the paycheck.
As we often say in our blogs, saving money is earning money. So first, let us understand how to keep track of our monthly expenses so that we don’t spend money unnecessarily.
Finding out where you are spending your money is the first step. You should categorize your expenses into groups. Some credit cards can auto-generate these groups and show your spending. This way, you can have a visual picture of your expenses. Perhaps you had only been spending too much on your morning coffee, and it needs some attention.
You can also categorize your spendings in terms of fixed and variable expenses. Fixed expenses include your rent or insurance that you know you have to pay no matter what. This realization will prompt you to save up on the variable expense, which includes things like your food and recreational expenses that you can cut corners on.
It is essential to understand your earnings as opposed to your expenses. We recommend using an app or spreadsheet tool. Using this app, you can easily monitor the amount you can spend ( after taking out the fixed expenses). This way, you will be more inclined to spend rationally with your financial capabilities in mind.
With your spending habit in mind, create a realistic budget that you can follow. Do Not go with the flow and make a budget eliminating any unnecessary expenses as that is unrealistic. To create a budget, first, make a list of all your bills. Next, calculate how much you would need to withhold from each paycheck to pay those bills. 50% of your earnings should go towards essential fixed expenses like rent and food, while 30% should be reserved for non-essential expenses such as meals at restaurants. The remaining 20% should be the savings that you may need during unfortunate events.
It is important to remember when you are putting together a budget for a post-pandemic period, always take into account that inflation may cause prices to rise. Typical day-to-day necessities like gas, food, and other products and services are expected to rise in price. This can lead to underestimating the budget, causing issues at the end of the month. Also, set aside some budgets for recreation or travel that you did not have to spend during the pandemic. This may also include any travel expenses you may have now which were not required before the pandemic.
Now that we are done with bookkeeping, here comes the fun part. Now we will analyze and cut down on your expenses. Try finding cheaper alternatives to this spending. Do you need that subscription when you used it just once in the last month? Give it a thought. You may also consider setting aside some of the more significant expenses you may have later down the road. Let’s take, for example, your rent payment is $3,000 per year, and you make $8,000 per month. You could save $250 each month for rent and then use the rest to pay for other expenses. This will take away the burden of having to pay the rent at the end of the year. We have a whole article written on ways to cut expenses. Check that out for some great tips.
Getting insurance is very important as it may save you a fortune if things do not go according to plan. We recommend insuring your home, automobiles, and your health. You may think it is counterintuitive and cost you more money than you save, but the slight premium you pay makes up for the medical bills and can run you into the thousands. In the event of illness, you might have to fork out money to cover hospital bills that is significantly more than all the insurance you pay.
We are still passing the traumatic experience of a pandemic that had caused havoc in our lives. Many of us faced situations that we never imagined facing. Many of us lost our loved ones, and we could not even say goodbye. We miss things we previously took for granted, like sharing a meal together or spending holidays with our friends and families. That’s why it is more important to live than to keep on worrying so much about the future that you have no control of. We recommend you set a small budget for your recreation.
The pandemic taught us how important it is to spend quality time with our loved ones. Even a short visit can fulfill our social needs and also help us save some money. But life moves on, and we have to deal with the problems it throws at us, so as promised, where is a tip if you have already fallen behind on a paycheck. It is understandable as most of us find it difficult, so you may consider taking a small payday loan to get you on your feet. Payday loans are easy to obtain as they require no credit check. Payday loans are short-term loans that you can pay off from your next paycheck. Use this money to get a much-needed break, maybe take a short vacation. The pandemic has taught us many things, but the biggest lesson was to cherish the small things. Yes, things are tough right now, and the economy is still recovering, and in the end, it will all be okay.
