If you want to stay ahead of the current increasing cost of living, now is the perfect time to revisit your budget! It’s an even better time to plug any holes in that budget!
When things are just plodding along nicely, I find that I tend to become a bit complacent about my spending. If I overspend a little this month, I’ll rein it in a bit next month and on it goes…
But right now, I need a bit of a reset and a do over so that I feel in control of what’s going on in my finances. I need to take a good hard look at what’s actually going out of my account each month so I can make sure I’m managing my money rather than just being a passive bystander in the whole thing.
So it’s time to download our bank statements for the last few months and get my spreadsheet ready!
I’ll start by looking at my essential spending – my mortgage, rates, utilities, insurance, fuel, etc. Is there anything I can reduce? My mortgage is always the first thing I look at because it’s my biggest expense, but I’m pretty good at keeping on top of that?! Would switching electricity, phone or insurance companies reduce my costs? It’s time to make some calls to see where I can be saving.
My groceries are also essential – especially in a large family with four growing sons – but I can always find a little bit of wriggle room with some good menu planning and only going to the supermarket once per week with my cash allowance in hand and my card at home!
Next it will be my non-essential spending to get the once over – probably a twice over! Do I really need to have subscriptions to Netflix, Stan, Binge, Prime and Disney or can we cut down to one or two per month and then switch to another service next month? Can we take a break from buying new clothes for a couple of months – or just become more conscious about what we have and what we need? Can we reduce our entertainment budget for a couple of months and go back to basics for a while?
For my sanity, I will always make sure I have an allowance for a bit of “fun money” – an allocation of money that I don’t need to justify to myself or anyone else – but maybe I’ll reduce that for a few months too.
Right now, we’re in a time of change. Cost of living is increasing after a pretty long hiatus. We can either complain, become fearful and stressed. Or we can take charge, get in the drivers’ seat and manage our finances like the bosses we are!
Do you have any budgeting magic to share?
