Find your budget
50/30/20 budgeting method. This budgeting method is a more structured budgeting style that splits your income into three percentage groups. 50% if your monthly income is spent on your personal needs. This being your largest amount is designated to Housing, groceries, utilities, Insurance, and transportation. 30% of your take home pay will be designated to your wants, such as Dining Entertainment, shopping, travel, and gifts. Lastly, the remaining 20% of your income is designated to your savings. This will allow you to reach long term financial goals like building an emergency fund, paying off outstanding debts, and contributing to an investment account
Reverse budgeting. If you are the kind of person who is looking to prioritize your savings in a way that doesn’t take away from your day to day expenses and fixed cost. The reverse budget also known as pay-yourself-first budget prioritizes contributing to your saving a portion of your check before spending any other money on bills, groceries, or discretionary items. In order to implement this method, first you should Calculate your income and track your spending. Then, determine a realistic per paycheck amount you can contribute to your savings goals. Lastly, pay into savings account, ira, before paying anything out from each paycheck.
Zero Based Budget. This budgeting style gives every cent of your income a purpose. Allocate all of your money to explicit line items before you spend anything from your pay check. This budget allows you to plan ahead and not spend any funds that you don't have. Unlike other budgeting styles the Zero based budget is more flexible and can change at any moment. For instance, if you spend $200 less on your food expenses than you originally planned, using the example above, you can reallocate that amount to your savings line item and increase your savings to $500, and decrease your food expenses to $300. Keeping an up to date budget tracker can help you to move money around in your budget real time. This budget style allows you to be aware of how much money flows in and out, and prevents you from spending what you don’t have.
If you need a little extra help organizing your finances, and don’t know where to start check out the graphic below. We have consolidated some of the best budgeting apps that can provide convenience and simplicity when it comes to staying on top of your money. No matter what your financial goals may be, the first step is always to start. Happy Budgeting!
