No more excuses: Start budgeting now

Budgeting is a financial plan that details how much you will spend on a specific item. For example, you will budget a certain amount of money to pay for your rent, utilities, and food. Think about that checklist that you always make each month with all your bills – that’s a budget.

And don’t worry. Creating a budget does not have to be difficult, and you don’t need to be good at math to make one. In fact, when you think about it, you’ve been budgeting since childhood with your baon (financial allowance).

Now that you’re older, the concept of budgeting remains the same, but some things may help you make the most out of your money.

The most important one is to know your goals. Ask yourself what it is that you want to achieve in the next month, or two, or even 6 months. Do you want to pay off all your loans? Are you setting aside something to start your own business?

Knowing what your goals are will make budgeting a lot easier. This is because it breaks down your big goals into simpler ones that you can accomplish each month. No goal is too big or too small.

Once you know what your long-term goals are, you can take baby steps into achieving them with your budget. You should be able to differentiate what you “need” versus what you “want.” Needs are things that you can’t live without. These are your essentials. Wants are things that are nice to have but won’t affect your life if you don’t have them.

Knowing what your needs are will help you know how to divide your monthly paycheck or income. This way, it will be easier for you to know how much you should be budgeting to achieve your goals.

If you want to start budgeting, you can download a simple budget template found in the earnest website.*