Budget Advice

If I could pick one thing I get questions about on Instagram it's definitely budgeting! This is something that has taken me almost a year to get down so I'm not perfect by any means but I do have tons of advice! I'm going to share with you guys how I do it and if you have any questions just leave a comment or message me on Instagram! 

So I'm just going to dive right in! I do everything by hand instead of doing it on a computer because I've found it to be way more efficient and easier for me. I start by setting up my month and first up is income. For my husband and I we each get 2 paychecks so I write out 4 for the month. For the amount since I get paid hourly I put the lowest my paycheck could be that way anything over that is extra money saved (or spent!). I know this could be a struggle if you work in the restaurant industry or something of that nature where your income changes week to week so in this section just put an average on what you make every week. After you've figured out your income, total it up!

Once you've written your "planned" income it's time to start writing out all of your expenses! I've listed mine in the picture below but yours could differ. Once you have them all written out go through and start writing out the planned amounts for each. Some of your bills could change month to month such as water, gas, electricity and for those and I budget the highest they've been just in case it ends up being high that month. If you aren't sure how much you spend on food, gasoline, your pets, etc, go through the past couple months of your spending and total up how much you spend in each of those sections to get an idea. Once you have all of those spots filled out subtract all of your expenses from your income and see what you have left. Lets say you have $1,000 left. I would put $800 to savings and $200 for spending money. You should always give yourself spending money because it's not realistic to say you wont spend a penny on yourself the whole month (at least not for me lol). And then WAALAA your budget is complete! 

Now here's where it gets tricky! You'll have to keep track of your spending throughout the month. What I do is I have clipboard and I keep two sheets of paper on it. As the month goes by I write out every single transaction and keep track of my spending. I look at my checking account and credit cards and keep track of it all. This could be tough if you're a cash spender but in that case just keep all of your receipts! As the month goes by I will total up where I'm at in each section to keep myself aware of my spending and then at the end of the month I total it all up and write it in the "actual" section of the budget.

You're going to find that you might spend more or less money than you thought in certain areas like food, gas, your pets, etc and that's where the budget becomes trial and error. On the next month you'll just have to adjust the planned amount for which ever item you over or under budgeted for and adjust the other planned amounts as you need. Budgeting can become something super fun if you want it to be and soon enough you'll be saving money like a pro!

Thank you guys so much for reading if you made it this far. I hope this helps you! If you have any questions don't hesitate to comment or message me on Instagram! 

XOXO, Ashley Lynn Smith