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Our Debt Free Family

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How Often Should You Review Your Budget?

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Budgeting can be a huge pain, especially if it seems like you are constantly revisiting it. I feel like we are constantly examining our budget for places to trim and save more money. Even if you’re not in the midst of a financial crisis, you should review your budget on a regular basis to make sure you’re accounting for changes and saving as much as possible. So, how often should you review your budget?

how often should you review your budget

1. When There’s a Major Shift in the Overall Economy

Before we get into the periodicity of budget review, the most important time to review your budget is when there are uncontrollable economic changes that will affect your spending power. We are in unprecedented financial times where inflation can eat away at your income without notice. If you’re waiting for your periodic budget review to catch the impact of economic changes, you may be heading for increased debt.

 

2. When There’s a Change in Your Finances

You should absolutely take a look at your budget whenever there is a major change in your personal financial situation. So, you’ll want to review your budget when you’ve gotten a raise, lost income, or paid off debt. If there’s a major change in cash flow, you’ll likely need to make major changes to your budget which may be for the better. For individuals with a bit more disposable income, you’ll want to increase your savings and retirement investments. Consider opening a Webull account where you can invest for free. They even offer an IRA options and a wide variety of research tools to for beginners to reduce risk.

If you have lost income due to a pay cut, working less hours, or encountered a period of unemployment, you’ll want to trim unnecessary costs immediately in order to save money. Having liquid savings is crucial in debt reduction as it prevents us from falling into the hands of predatory lenders. First comes debt, and then goes your credit. The latter leads to even more debt.

 

3. Monthly

We are currently looking at our budget on a monthly basis because we need to identify places to trim constantly. Many others take a look at their budget on a monthly basis as well, especially if they are attempting to pay off debt. The best time to do this is generally at the end of the month. Take a look at the previous month’s budget and determine how well it worked for you and your family. Adjust certain aspects of your budget as needed. Here are 3 printable debt free charts to help track your budget.

4. Quarterly

Another great way to review your budget is quarterly. Many of us make financial goals at the beginning of the year. Revisiting those goals, and your budget, every three months can help you stay on track. It can also help you review where you may be able to trim costs on a larger scale. For instance, if you notice you’re spending a lot on entertainment the first quarter of the year, you can make a concentrated effort to scale back in the second quarter.

 

5. Biannually or Midyear

You should always take a look at your budget at the 6-month mark of the year. Did you make financial promises to yourself as a New Year’s resolution? Budgeting and better financial management are on the country’s the top 10 list of New Year’s resolutions. You’re at the halfway mark and this is the time to see how well you’ve been budgeting for the first half of the year. Another benefit to a midyear budget review is acknowledging the incoming heavy spending periods; summer vacation, back-to-school, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. If you have never conducted a personal midyear budget review, here is a great article on how to conduct a midyear budget review.

 

5. Annually

Some people thrive on an annual budget and only review it throughout the year if there is a major change in their finances. For me, this simply wouldn’t work, but if you are already debt-free and have a great savings plan in place, an annual budget review may work for you. Consider investing in dividend paying stocks.  However, keep in my that even the most profitable companies in the world conduct at least quarterly budget reviews. A lot can happen in the span of 12 months. You may be missing out on opportunities if you fail to identify budget challenges or additional savings and investment potential early on.

 

6. Conclusion

If you’ve ever asked yourself how often should you review your budget, you’re not alone. It is a question I’ve struggled with occasionally. Keeping constant tabs on your finances can be exhausting but the financial freedom it can lead to is motivating! Budgeting is never a once size fits all situation so I suggest you try starting with a monthly budget review then decrease the frequency depending on your budget spending and income variations.

Readers, how often do you review your budget? 

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The Quest for Cheaper Housing

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cheaper housing

As I’ve been talking about for a few weeks, we are looking at moving… again. If you have been following the blog for a while, you know we started our financial journey while living in a motel (that is just a step above being homeless). We got moved into our apartment after that, then shortly after got the offer to move down to Atlanta. Since being in Atlanta, we’ve moved twice, and now we are just ready to move away from Georgia altogether. So, we started looking for cheaper housing to start saving more but questioned if it was the right decision.

Cheaper Housing vs. Quality of Living

The first thing you really need to decide is how much of your quality of living you’re willing to give up for cheaper housing. Cheaper is almost always going to mean giving up something. You may find it means shared laundry space, small living quarters, or heavily used appliances.

Consider how much money you would be able to save and how that would help the progress of your financial goals. Would that be worth giving up your quality of living for a short period of time? As a family, we’ve done this. We have been in a studio apartment for going on two years now and it wasn’t worth the discomfort we saved moving here. It has sent us running away from apartment living altogether. Giving up space was not the right decision on our part.

Which brings me to my next point, what are your limits when it comes to pursuing cheaper housing? Is it space, is it amenities, is it location? For us, being able to stay the next place we land for a while is important. We want to have a yard for our dog, extra room for expanding our family, and a home office. This way, we can stay put until we are either debt-free or ready to buy a home.

Should You Relocate to Save Money?

Another thing people often think of doing to help them financially is relocating. Especially now, when many people are working from home, relocating may be a good option. For instance, if you are self-employed, you may consider moving to a state with a lower income tax or if you are starting a family you may want to move somewhere with good schools and low property tax.

You may also find some rural areas have cheaper rent prices and even cheaper real estate. Those moves seem enticing when you look at the large savings, but you should also consider how it will impact your day-to-day life. How far will you have to drive to the store? Will you have to pay more for an internet connection?

Bottomline

There is more to making decisions about your life than how much money you’ll save making that move. You should consider your entire life, happiness, and long-term goals when you are making any big decision in your life, even if it is something as small as seeking cheaper housing.

When it comes down to it, making decisions about your everyday life should take more thought and consideration. For us, our next step will be to find reasonably priced housing that our family can grow into and stay in for a while. Somewhere we can reach debt freedom and start saving for our first home. To me, this will be the perfect find over saving (insert amount here) each month.

Readers, what things do you place more importance on when making decisions in your life? Have you ever made a similar choice about housing? 

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How to Organize a Budget Calendar

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budget calendar

Everyone has a way they like to organize their financial plan. For some, it is easier to log everything into a spreadsheet. Others have started using apps to manage their cash. In our family, we use a budget calendar to stay on top of our finances.

Our Budget Calendar

While writing everything down on a calendar may seem a bit old-fashioned, it can work really well, especially if you do better with writing things down. I personally still keep a physical calendar for everything, so adding our budget into it made complete sense. Here’s what ours looks like…

budget calendar

As you can see above, I have color-coded what money we have going in and what we have going out every week. Our paydays are written in red and all of the money going out is written in blue. This includes all of our bills, groceries, and my hubby’s vape fluid for the month. As you can see, there is also a note to have money budgeted for Valentine’s Day as well as $500 into savings.

Creating Your Own

If you’d like to create your own budget calendar, it is really easy. All you need is a monthly calendar layout (you can even do this on your computer if you prefer). Once you have your bills and earnings written out on the calendar, you can decide how much money you can budget towards entertainment and additional debt payments.

 

Of course, everyone’s budget calendar is going to be different. If you have a larger family, you’ll spend more on food. People who have more debt may also have more monthly payments to consider on their personal calendars. As you begin to pay things off, you can always change your budget because you’ll be jotting down your expenses and earnings every month as it changes.

Also, it is a good idea to set aside a day every month to review your budget and see what the month ahead will bring for you financially. Be sure to also note any large, one-time expenses that may occur, like paying taxes or renewing your car’s registration.

Readers, do you use a budget calendar? If not, what kind of budgeting method do you use?

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