Hi-- well..moving along to the next phase...lets see...you have all of your spending in a neat report. Now it is up to you to decide where and how much you are going to cut from your spending. Most of what you need to do to be successful in your spending and savings is subjective and only you can decide what you will do without or not. Try not to cut anything major or multiple things at once. One thing that helps is for you to switch to cash for all of your "fun". Think about your "fun" or "mad" money in two week intervals. Designate how much and pull it out in cash each paycheck. Start with a realistic figure and know that you can adjust it as you go. See how long you can make it last until you "pay yourself" again with your next paycheck. It is amazing how much easier it is to spend when you swipe a card vs using cold hard cash. It actually makes you sad to break that twenty because you know it is as good as gone when you do that! So you will tend to make the break count! It makes you want to hold onto it longer and spread it out more judiciously. You can have fun going out with your friends- either once and blow your whole wad or you can go several times by going out during happy hour, or switching to a cheaper beer/wine/rail liquor or ordering an app instead of a full meal. You can go shopping but again- do you want to spend all of your money in one place or break it up and be able to do it multiple times. Make it a game. This is a great time to do some inventory in your closet and house. How many shoes/purses/clothes etc does one person really need? This is also the time to do a lot of reading on budgets and how they work.
Keep in mind and have faith that if you allocate your money and get in the habit of pre-spending and savings it will all come together. No one is making you do this. This is your choice and the amount of success- how fast and how much- is all up to you and how determined you are. The very first budget book I tried to read I never made it through to the end.I can't tell you how many times I tried to create a budget and it failed. One of the first ones I actually got through was Idiots Guide to Living on a Budget. Great start. It wasn't until I read Dave Ramsey that I actually finally understood that a budget is fluid and changes every month. For me I do my budget every two weeks. For now- just read about them. Don't try and make one just yet.
One of the most important concepts when you are trying to change a behavior in yourself is that you build on successes. Start with something small and the success you get from that will snowball into more and more success. Here is an example. I enjoy coffee and the coffee at work is horrible. Starbucks gets expensive-fast!! so I purchased a thermos I got at a consignment shop and brewed it at home. Yeah- my co-workers thought I was crazy and laughed at me but it got me started on something. Starbucks is $2 a day for basic simple coffee. $2 x4(days a week)=$8 x4(a month)-$32.( I do make sure a few times a month I treat myself to a cup at Starbucks to keep things on tract and reward myself) This is what I started drafting into a savings account. I auto drafted it into my savings $8 each week and watched it grow. Then I stopped smoking. I estimated that I spent $80 a month on cigs. So I added $20(cigs) + $8(coffee)=$28 a week x4 (month)= $112 a month into a savings account. That is $1456 in a year --an amazing amount!(since you are putting it away every week take $112 x52 and you will get this figure) I was already spending that money any way right? So why not put it into better use. Its amazing to watch something so simple grow so quickly. That is another key concept into gaining control over your money- make every penny that you possible can go somewhere automatically.
I would like to suggest depending on your overwhelmed meter- read and re-read about budgets at least twice. Repetition is important when you are attempting to re-wire your thinking. I sure hope this is helping and is making some sense.
Tootles-
Heather
