Budget Mondays

Monday – 1/6/2014

It’s Monday – a painful day for most people, yours truly included. Sometimes it is made even more painful as we remember just how much money we ended up spending over the weekend.

Budget

It’s one word that can make people cringe, angry and sad all at the same time, a rare occurrence indeed. There are plenty of reasons for this – people are told at work that their budgets are being cut, their ideas cannot be funded because they are not in the budget, and in our personal life, our budgets don’t usually quite match up to our desires.

As we begin the first full week of 2014, there are a virtually unlimited number of New Year’s resolutions, pledges, and promises that are being made. Gym memberships, workout gear, healthy cookbooks are all flying off of the shelves, as they do most years following the holiday season. Many of these goals are well-intentioned, and created by people who have every desire to see these resolutions though.

What is lacking, however, is usually a plan of action to translate these goals and resolutions into reality. Without a plan, schedule, and milestones to help track progress toward these goals, the likelihood of these goals becoming reality is far less. What is key, in any endeavor, is to have some kind of roadmap or structure that assists you in reachin your goals. Personal finances are no less important than diet and exercise. Remember that no money = no fun. Much like resolutions to improve dietary and exercise habits, resolutions to improve personal finances require discipline and dedication.

With that in mind, let’s take a look at a few budget-friendly concepts that can help you start 2014 off right!

1) Form a budget team — the psychological support and encouragement could prove to be the difference between success and failure.

2) Make a schedule — plan out your financial goals for the week, month, and the year. Writing goals down has a proven impact on the success rate of the goals.

3) Make it bite-size — don’t try to tackle all of your goals at once. Break them down into more manageable goals that you can achieve throughout the year.

Happy New Year!