Money makes the world go round as they say and its essential to keep your finances in good standing to be able to live life comfortably, to be secure in the future or during retirement. The best way to do this is to create a spending plan wherein you have a foresight on how much money you have and how you will spend it wisely. But what if your spending plan fails to achieve your financial goals?
As the pandemic wreak havoc on global economy last year, many individuals suddenly became unemployed or struggling to make ends meet. With this present situation people nowadays are focusing on improving their financial status by creating a robust spending plan. You too can fine tune your spending plan and later improve your finances.
Reduced income means reduced spending power. With a smaller paycheck or limited income resources there are options that can help trim down household expenses and lifestyle splurges such as:
- Do a lifestyle check. Budgeting and saving might not sound a good idea for people who love to explore and unwind. It’s okay to continue the things you love doing as long as you designate a certain limit on how much you spend on entertainment, socializing, shopping and travel. Take into account your on-going subscriptions like cable TV, online entertainment, magazines, etc. Most likely these are not important and by opting to unsubscribe you can reduce your regular spending. Reserve a monthly budget for your short-term fun rendezvous or better save some funds for bigger future happenings.
- Consider the lessons you learned from the previous years. By this time for sure you already have some take-aways from the challenges that you encountered. With a limited budget, the usual dine -out and shopping spree are now tamed to home cooking or take-outs while your retail therapy can be converted to practical online shopping which will give you full control on how you spend your money.
- Trim down monthly credit bills. Review and analyze your credit cards- identify which one gives you the most value for your money and provides you with better rewards. Diligently pay your credit cards bills in full each month or better use cash or debt card to avoid interests. It’s a smart move also to rework on your auto loan with lower rates.For more tips about debt management, click here.
- Achieve stability. When you are able to properly sort out your monthly expenses and already have a good budget flow its high time to improve your financial safety net. Money experts recommend that you must set aside about 3 to 6 months of your income as a protective cushion in case of decreased salary or job loss. This plan may appear to be almost impossible, but it is very doable. Start saving up slowly by reserving out smaller chunks then gradually you will be able to achieve this goal.
Amidst this pandemic and even after this pandemic, having a spending plan is a must-do. As this pandemic has made us realized how important it is to manage our finances wisely, we should take into consideration how to properly execute our spending plan to avoid financial hardship that could lead to bigger life problems.