This is part 4 in the series ‘Budgets for Dummies.’ You may want to check out part 1, part 2, and part 3 first.

So far we’ve talked about why a budget is so important, how a budget frees your spending and how to build a budget. All of these are key points to financial freedom, but this final one is the proverbial ‘final nail in the coffin.’

Think about you car. A car runs really well as long as you change the oil and keep up with the regular maintenance. But what do you think would happen if you never maintained your car? Well, at the very least, it wouldn’t last near as long as if you have taken care of it.

A budget works the same way. If you don’t regularly maintain it, it will fall apart. [Read more →]

This is part 3 of the series ‘Budgets for Dummies.’ Try starting with part 1 and part 2.

So far we’ve talked about why you need a budget and how having one gives you the freedom to spend.

Now, when I start talking about building a budget, don’t let it scare you. Building a budget is incredibly easy and, as you’ll see in part 4, maintaining it is even easier.

We can knock out budget building in 3 simple steps:

1) For the next 30 days track your expenses: I think the simplest way is to get a notebook and record every transaction you make. This includes everything from the mortgage payment to your morning cappuccinos. Every time you spend money write it down!

[Read more →]

This is part 1 of the series ‘Budgets For Dummies.’

Suppose you only got paid once per year. You no longer get a check every other Friday. You get one check for $40,000 on January 1 and won’t get another one until the following year. What would you do? Would you go take a big vacation, buy a new new car, a new boat? How would you know how much you could spend on food or entertainment? What if you spent too much and ran out of money in September? The only way that you could survive is on a [tag]budget[/tag]. The word budget scares a lot of people. “I don’t want to live on a budget, it’s too restricting!” or “I don’t need a budget to tell me how to spend my money!”

I want to show you why you need a budget and how it frees your spending instead of restricting it. After that we’ll look at how simple it is to create and maintain a solid budget. [Read more →]