Here comes another easy budgeting tip for beginners. Some parts of saving and budgeting money come naturally, and some are tough. If you’ve already done the tough part and budgeted out how much money you’re able to safely spend during a week, sticking to that goal should be relatively easy.
Money in hand
It’s called the money-in-hand method… for obvious reasons. After you have crunched the numbers and know how much money you’re able to spend in a given week, take out that exact amount from the bank.
Keep the money in an envelope, in your wallet, or somewhere safe through the week. Stick to the expenses and be sure you’ve got enough to make it through – no cheating with extra withdrawals, credit cards or debit usage!
What if I run out?
Tough luck. Part of learning budgeting is going without sometimes. Sticking to the budget isn’t always going to be easy – but neither is unwanted debt.
This will be a great reminder of how much you’ve got left each month – I found it really helped me out to actually see the cash I had left, instead of imagining it in a bank account.
What can this help me learn?
Money lessons can hurt sometimes (like when you need to skip out on something fun because you spent too much), but the reward is definitely there. After 2 or 3 weeks of cash-in-hand budgeting, you will have a much better idea of how you usually spend and save.
When there’s money left over, put it away and start over fresh. No money left? You might need to dip into next week’s stash – but be sure to adjust that the next time you withdraw funds.
Good luck – and let us know if this method works for you!
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