5 Ways to Beat Budget Blues

Every once in awhile my budget gets blown out of the water.   It seems like the months where my expenses are higher, my income is lower.  Have you ever wondered why that is?  It is so frustrating to try and get to that 0 budget when you keep ending up in negative numbers.  I have come up with a few ways to beat the budget blues.

1. Don’t beat yourself up about it.  Look at how well you have done in previous months, adjust for this month and move on.
2. Analyze.  Figure out why your expenses are higher or your income is lower, or both so that you can plan for it in the future.  There are months like January and February where heating costs are going to be higher than the rest of the year, you need to plan ahead for these months.
3. Compensate.  If your expenses are higher in these months, can you do something to bring in the difference in extra income?  Sell something on ebay or with a part time job?  Are there services you can offer to bring in some extra cash?  In months where your income might be lower, is there a way that you can eliminate expenses?  Give up the entertainment budget?  Forgo the monthly dinner out?
4. Adjust.  If you have been working hard on paying down debts, in months where your living expenses are higher, you might have to adjust your debt payments back to the minimum.   You won’t lose ground and you can bump it back up when your expenses are lower.
5. Don’t give up.  A budget or a spending plan is meant to be a fluid thing.  There are always going to have to be adjustments to your plan as life is not static.  Once you have been budgeting for a period of time, you can plan for these seasonal ups and downs and they will become a part of the plan instead of busting the plan.

January and February are always my worst months.  My income goes down and my expenses go up.  I know this and I plan for it as much as I can.  It doesn’t help when the little things that you don’t plan for also happen in these months.  I need to buy new door handles for my car as both outside handles have broken.  I have to leave the window down so I can open it from the inside.  I am going to have to make do until my income goes up enough to order them but I know it won’t be long.

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Tags: budget