Budgeting Tips for the New Year
January 6th, 2023
Creating a solid budget plan is crucial to building financial security for yourself and your family. Whether you need to keep a closer eye on your spending or having issues paying off your current debts, coming up with a budget plan can help restore balance to your income, savings, and expenses.
You should consider creating a budget plan if you:
- Feel as if you are not in control of your finances
- Plan to make a major purchase or have a significant life event occurring soon
- Want to make the most of your income
- Have a lot of overwhelming debt to pay off
- Do not save money regularly
- Are unsure about where your money goes each month
Here at Duliban Insurance, we have put together this helpful list of tips and advice to guide your journey toward financial freedom in 2023.
Why Your 2023 New Year’s Resolutions Should Include Making a Budget
A budget plan allows you to take better control of your spending habits. It helps you calculate how much money you have coming in each month, how much you spend on average, and how much you save. Creating a budget makes it possible to balance your income, savings, and expenses. It works as a monthly guide, making it easier for you to reach your financial goals.
If your goals for 2023 include reducing your weekly or monthly expenses, paying off credit card debt, or building an emergency savings fund, budgeting can help. It can also be helpful if you have long-term goals such as saving up for a home, a car, or a special event such as a vacation, saving up to go back to school, creating a retirement fund, or paying off all your current debt.
What to Consider Before You Create a Budget Plan
Before you begin working on your 2023 budget plan, it is crucial to consider a few things, such as why you want to create a budget in the first place. Is it because you are feeling financially unstable? Do you want to find out more about your spending habits? Or are you interested in setting aside a savings fund for the future to purchase a home or start your own business? Having a primary financial goal will help motivate you to create a budget and stick with it all year.
Tips For Saving Money and Making a Budget Plan in 2023
Here at Duliban Insurance, we are interested in helping Ontario homeowners make the most of their financial futures. Check out our tips to save money and create a budget plan to help you feel more financially secure in 2023 and beyond.
Consider Making One Major Lifestyle Change
When looking for ways to save money and cut spending, most people will start with minimal costs, such as streaming services and app subscriptions they do not need.
Instead of focusing on the little things that do not impact your budget, consider taking a closer look at your larger debts and see if you can do anything to bring the cost down. You may want to refinance your mortgage or sell your car for a less expensive model that is more fuel efficient. Doing so could help you save tons of money over time.
Think About All Your Subscriptions and Memberships
Although canceling smaller debts such as app subscriptions and memberships may not have a significant impact on your savings, that depends on the amount of your income and just how many subscriptions and memberships you have.
You may have money automatically deducted from your bank account each month by apps that you have completely forgotten about. Remember, just because you delete an app does not mean you have unsubscribed.
Even though this tip is about decreasing your app usage, there are a few practical applications out there that can assist you with finding out how many subscriptions you have and help you manage them.
TrueBill is one highly reliable application available for both Android and iOS devices that can be beneficial to your budget plan. It supplies you with a full breakdown of your income and expenditure while providing insight into what you can do to save extra cash each month.
Take Back Control of your Debt
If you have a lot of credit card and loan debt, each time you make a payment, you are paying a large amount of interest and only a small amount on your actual debt. And unfortunately, that is money you will not save for your future goals. Therefore, you should devise a proactive plan to help you pay off those high-interest debts.
When high-interest debts become too overwhelming for your budget, it is time to speak with a debt consultation agent and learn more about how to refinance your loans or settle your debts by consenting to a payment agreement.
It could take anywhere between a few months to a couple of years, but over time you will pay off your loans and be free from the debt that is weighing you down.
Create Detailed and Realistic Savings Goals
When you want to succeed in saving money, it is essential to understand just how important that is. Try to be as specific as possible when it comes to establishing your financial goals. By doing so, you will make it much easier to accomplish those goals because you fully understand what you are working toward.
It would be best if you also were realistic about your goals. Consider your current and future income. Unless you are planning on changing careers or asking your boss for a promotion, likely, you will not see an increase in the amount you bring home. Therefore, the only way to increase your savings would be to cut down on spending or invest in something worthwhile.
For that reason, make sure that your future earnings will correlate with your savings and purchase goals for the future. That means while you may not be able to purchase a luxury sports car with your savings balance soon, it may still be possible to buy a more affordable vehicle.
Work on Automating Your Savings
Automating your savings is a great way to get into the habit of saving money if you have previously had trouble doing so. You can have your bank set up scheduled transfers into a savings account so you don’t need to remember every month or week to transfer funds manually, the work is being done for you automatically in the background.
Many banks now allow checking account holders to round up their purchases and place the excess amount in their savings accounts. The amount is not much, usually twenty to thirty cents at a time, but that can quickly add up, and before you know it, you will have a good amount of money in your savings account.
Contact Us for More Details on How to Budget in 2023
Learning to budget your money can be a difficult task, but if you genuinely want to start spending less and saving more, these tips we have provided can help you do just that. We hope this information will put you on the right track toward building a better budget plan for you and your family.
