Things I've learned about budgeting

I've been budgeting for many years and I still feel like I'm learning more and more ways to budget better. I've compiled a list of things that I've learned that aren't always told or explained when you are starting a budget. You might not have thought about budgets these ways so I wanted to share!

Some categories of your budget should be "buckets"

you might not use that category every month but you need to make sure you are saving money in each category for future, big expenses. For example, I don't need my oil changed in my car every month, but when I do it boosts my spending that month and I might start to overspend my budget that month. Instead if you take an average amount you might spend on your car during a year's time (oil changes tire rotations etc) and divide it by 12 you can start saving a little each month and set aside to use when the time comes. I personally like to physically take the money out of my account and either put it in a separate account or keep it in an envelope at home (jars work too). Some people leave the money in the same account and just keep a log of the money that is allotted for each category. Whatever works for you! When you are looking through your budget of what categories should be buckets think of the ones that fluctuate a lot. Examples: Clothing, Gifts, Entertainment, Health

Use your last month's income as this month's budget amount 

Budget for the money you already have instead of what you think you'll have. This is especially helpful if you have a variable income each month. When my husband was a car salesman his income was very unpredictable and I would start the month with a budget of an average that we usually make but some months we would spend more than we made and we wouldn't know until the end of the month. Even typing this out now I realize how silly it all sounds. Use the money you already have to budget!

Your budget can be flexible 

What I mean by this is that if you want to go out to eat a little more this month you would just move that money from a different category to beef up (no pun intended) your restaurant budget. If you overspend in a certain category, just adjust it by making sacrifices in another category. When I first started budgeting I thought that you should only set one budget of the same amount for everything each month and never change it. I would get really frustrated by overspending in certain areas (even though i had money left over for other categories). Make sure you are keeping track of or checking your budget often, once a week is good or if you're like me... everyday!