Budgeting

How many people make spending plans for their money?
And actually stick to their budget?

Well for me, working three jobs and attending school can be a handful at times but somehow I manage. I love the the fact that I don't have to ask my parents for anything. so budgeting my paychecks responsibly is essential to my everyday life.

For this assignment, I tracked my own spending. I took a blank sheet of paper, a calculator and a calendar to remind me when payments are due. It turned out great! It was easy, I wrote down my incomes from all three jobs, and then I scribbled out my monthly expenses honestly. When I did that I actually realized how much frivolous spending I was actually doing.

My monthly expenses were: my phone bill, car insurance, gas, food, cosmetics, personal hygiene, fun expenses like going out with friends, shopping, personal payment plans, and savings. All of these in total came to about 1,220 dollars a month.

I also pay for school out of pocket every semester, so I calculated the amount that I need to save in order to attend Coppin State University which is 3,337 including books and supplies. This is my goal I strive to save for every six months.

I quickly noticed somethings that I could cut back on like shopping, I have way too many clothes, I need to wear them instead of buying more. Spending money on fast food instead of dinning out, I should cook more. Activities like going out, I can cut back and do more personal activities in the house. As for cosmetics, I can style my own hair instead of going to the hairdressers every two weeks. Rather than spending money on shopping, food, fun activities and cosmetics I can save it and deposit it into a savings account for school.

Through this assignment, the difficult part was analysing myself and my own spending. No matter whether it was outrageous. I forced myself to write down the real amount for certain categories. So once I forced myself Irealized somethings that I was doing wrong and I need to fix it. That is how I came to make my budget, which will improve the areas that my pockets fall short on.

The most important thing to have in your budget is your savings....no matter if its 25 dollars or 50 dollars a week, put it aside to save for the future. You never know what might happen today or tomorrow so save. The money that you set aside and save can prevent you from hitting rock bottom. It actually works!