Save Your Cash! 5 Simple Budgeting Strategies

Now more than ever, you need to save your cash with simple budgeting strategies.  It requires commitment and persistence to make your budget and stick to it. Here are 5 strategies to help you:

1. Use a Budget Worksheet

Making a budget is one area where you don’t want to reinvent the wheel. Go online and download or copy a “free budget worksheet”, and then customize it to fit your situation. You can find free sheets at www.BetterBudgeting.com. Delete budget categories that don’t apply to you. If you print a worksheet, cross them out on the copy. At the end of this process, you’ll have the income and expense categories that you use to make your own unique budget.

2. Use a Budgeting Software

Use a software program if you’re able to afford one, or if one came installed on your computer. In this case, you can skip the budget worksheet and just follow the steps in your software to create your own budget. Quicken is one example of a budgeting software that you can use. It’s user-friendly and provides a lot of help along the way. It’s also great to use because you can track your income and expenses by putting in your receipts and deposits. With the click of a button, you can get a chart or numerical data that will show you how you’re doing in comparison to your budget.

3. Compare Unit Prices

Most supermarkets have a price label that includes the unit price. For example, you can look at the price label for your favorite box of cereal and see how much it costs per ounce. You could then compare that price per ounce to another brand. If you’re paying more for your foods, you can adjust your budget and save cash by switching brands or eliminating certain foods altogether. Unit prices are widely available for other household goods such as paper towels, laundry detergent and more.

4. Put Giving First

Your budget needs to include a giving category. This may seem strange when you’re trying to save cash. However, it may be your most important budget category. The way to control this category so that you’re not in the red in other categories, is to plan ahead how much you’ll give on a monthly basis. For example, if you pay 10% to your church, put this in your budget category and then deduct your other expenses after this category has been accounted for.

5. Write Down Your Discretionary Expenses

If you’re just starting out, you may not have a good handle on where your money is going. One way to figure out your discretionary expenses (those that you’re not contracted to pay for, or that are not fixed on a monthly basis) is to track them for a short period of time. Keep all your receipts for 30 days and bank statements. Also, use your cell phone or notebook to write down all cash expenses. At the end of 30 days, you’ll have a good idea of your discretionary expenses, and you can put together a budget based on that.

Making a budget can seem like a chore, but it’s a must when it comes to saving money. Using these simple budgeting strategies will help make your task easier, and it may even become fun.

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Daphne Mallory, Esq. is the co-owner of Mallory Writing Services and has written more than 100 articles helping home based business owners and entrepreneurs start and market their business. You can learn more about her here.