So we’re nearly at a new financial year. What better time is there to sit down and plan out your financial goals for the next year! That is, a budget! Budgeting isn’t a dirty word. An effective budget can, in a way, be quite liberating! If you have a certain amount set aside for a particular expense category, then you can spend it! Such as if you budget $100/month for clothes, and this sits well within your budget, then its guilt free spending! So really, it’s not all bad.

Make it fun even! Get a kick out of putting together your income and expenditure and then seeing what’s left! Have a goal of what the money you are saving is going towards and get excited about it! Let it drive you to save more!

Of course if you have put together your budget and your expenditure is greater than your earnings then you really need to knuckle down and get to the bottom of why. This will take some discipline but let the end goal spur you on to stick at it until you’re there.

If you’re not entirely sure what a budget is, in very simple terms, it is a list of all the money you have coming in (income), as well as a list of all the different things you might pay for (expenses). You will then have your income minus your expenses and what you have left is your savings (hopefully)!