Are you looking for a quick way to start saving money but not sure how to do it? Well, look no further! In this blog post, I will walk you through how you can use a planner (yes a planner!) to start saving money and show you the best Planner for Budgeting.
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I remember it like yesterday – I was stuck in a rut with my finances and needed a foolproof way to save money and get a better handle on my finances. I was practically living paycheck to paycheck and not sure where my money was going each month and it was frustrating.
So as a natural planner and organizer, I decided to get my financial house in order and the first thing I grabbed was my trusty Planner.
I had been using Planners for years and they have helped me to stay organized and get my to-do list out on paper which helps in getting the list complete.
The first page in my planner that I opened up was the monthly review page – this page is critical because it gives me a big snapshot of the total month.
I then start to add all my expenses for that month on the due date for each month. This is critical especially with fixed expenses such as rent, mortgage, insurance premiums, car payments just to name a few.
For variable expenses, I put an estimated timeframe for those bills based on previous months for example – the gas bill would be due the second week of the month.
Then I put in all the dates when I was being paid whether it was monthly or bi-weekly – this was good as I got to see when my paycheck arrives versus when my bills were due.
I also included the due dates for my credit card bill so I knew when it would be due and all other debts. This singlehandedly changed my debt-pay off strategy.
Afterward in the summary section – I added all my income in one column and all my expenses in another column. Then, I subtracted my expenses from my income, and whatever was left was allocated to savings and discretionary spending.
With this simple exercise, I was able to start saving money each month and get full control of my financial life.
To say that my Planner changed my life is an understatement, it completely allowed me to take stock of my financial future and set me on track to build wealth.
It helped me to anticipate unexpected expenses such as dinner out with friends or a birthday party which gives me some time to make decisions concerning my money.
My favourite planner is from Cambridge and it’s the best planner for budgeting especially if you are paper and pen person. You can grab your own copy here if you like:
Best Planner for Budgeting: Cambridge Planner
Tell me how do your budget? What tools do you use?
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