

After a while of contributing to your retirement accounts, you will accumulate a nice little nest egg. You can set money aside to contribute toward retirement accounts like your 401(k) at work, your IRAs, or other retirement account vehicles. You’ll want to build investment contributions into your weekly, monthly, and quarterly budgets. That said, you need a budget to retire blissfully happy. However, you also need to account for planning for the future or your retirement. Spending money responsibly, never veering from your budget, and avoiding debt at all costs are components of good money management. Even though it may be a drag, in the beginning, you’ll be able to feel confident knowing you have your finances under control. While tracking your spending and crunching numbers isn’t nearly as fun as splurging on a new pair of kicks, budgeting will help you avoid living beyond your means. By creating and sticking to a budget, you’ll need to know exactly how much money is coming in and going out. Therefore, you need a budget to ensure you don’t overspend. We can spend frivolously without seeing a dent to our checking or savings accounts, which can become a tricky predicament if you’re not careful. Now, with the use of plastic, it has become a lot harder to track our spending habits. If you had money at the end of the month and were able to pay your bills and save some cash, you were adequately managing their finances. In the past, before credit cards were available, it was easier for you to live within your means. The average American household credit card debt hovers around $5,700. Many Americans find themselves spending money they don’t have. So, whenever you’re tempted to splurge, you can refer back to your sticky notes. The point is, they must be visible to you throughout the day. You can place them around your home or in your car. To ensure you keep your eye on the prize, you can create several sticky notes with your financial goals on them. By keeping your goals top of mind, it will be a lot easier to pass up a spending opportunity. You’ll need to remind yourself what you’re working towards. But, if you’re starting, it might sting a little knowing you can’t indulge in every social event with your friends or spend aimlessly on a new cashmere sweater. If you don’t take control of your finances, and throw your money at every shiny object, how will you ever buy that trip to South Africa or save for a down payment on your dream home?Ĭrafting a budget forces you to define and map out your goals, save money, keep track of your progress, and maybe even make your dreams come true. You need a budget to set and accomplish your goals. You might even surprise yourself at how well you have done thus far without having a budget. Knowing exactly what you have in savings and in investment accounts will help you set goals and track your progress. This is a great time to review all of your account balances.
