Common Budget Busters

I know I've said it before and I'm sure I'll say it again but if you don't have a month specific budget to tell your money where to go, you will ALWAYS wonder where your money went; or you'll get frustrated because it doesn't work and throw in the towel.  It's been a while since I've talked about budgeting so I want to talk about some common areas that we forget about and tend to bust the budget month after month.  Setting a monthly budget should not be a stressful, gut-wrenching experience month after month.  It may be at first, if you have never had one or you're starting from scratch.  You may even be a bored free-spirit who doesn't get a rush over a balanced checkbook like the average nerd does.  The only way for it to get easier is to keep doing it, build confidence in yourself and your ability.

Non-monthly expenses are perhaps the biggest budget busters out there.  You know what I'm talking about, the "we forgot that the car needs maintenance" moment we've all had; or forgetting that when the kids go back to school they need new clothes, Christmas is in December, and of course the medical deductible starts over again at the beginning of the year.  So how do you stop from going crazy by these things that seem to creep up on us?  Go through your expenses and figure out which ones are non-monthly expenses.  This is everything that occurs either erratically or in regular intervals, just not every month.  Create a sinking fund for those categories by putting money into an envelope or savings account every month to cover when those categories hit.  Simply find a monthly average that you spend in each category.  This is particularly helpful with car repairs & registration, back to school, Christmas, and vacations.  If you're not in a position to be able to cash-flow it, then you need a sinking fund.  For smaller incidentals, have a miscellaneous category in your monthly budget.    If it creates a problem for you every month, then you're not budgeting for it properly.  Make it part of your monthly expenses.  I see this happen a lot with little things like gifts, or clothing.  But people get into trouble with big things like insurance deductibles.  

Above all, KEEP GOING!  Changing the way you handle money is super hard stuff and takes lots of the 3 P's, practice, patience and perseverance.  It also requires you tell yourself, your children or your friends "no" or "not right now".  If mid-month you're thrown a curve ball, roll with it and make adjustments.  Burying your head into the sand out of fear or frustration will get you nowhere.  You're only defeated when you decide not to get up and fight one more time.