ENTHUSIASM GOES A LONG WAY TOWARDS FINANCIAL SUCCESS
Are you one of those people who starts to glaze over every time the word budget is mentioned?
If you are, then you are not alone.
For many people, budgeting is one of those really boring jobs that they would rather forget about.
The problem with this is that managing your money is actually one of the most important things that you can do in life.
If you do not budget effectively and deal with loans and credit cards, you can find yourself having financial problems that are difficult to escape from.
Obviously, you do not want this to happen in your case. So how do you make the whole process of budgeting and dealing with credit less boring?
The good news is that there are several things you can do to help with this.
Set exciting goals that do not involve credit
It’s very easy to get used to paying some major costs using a credit card, or with a loan.
There is nothing wrong with this. In fact, using credit can actually help you to build a good credit score, as long as you manage loans and credit cards effectively.
For instance, if you decide to use a credit card to pay for a weekend away, you need to manage your payments so that you limit the amount of interest that you pay.
This involves learning how to track your spending and your outstanding balance.
All of this may sound like a lot of hard work if you are the type of person who gets bored with managing finances.
However, spending some time budgeting can actually make life a lot easier for you.
To make budgeting interesting you should set big goals, such as saving for a once in a lifetime vacation.
Once you actually take notice of your income and expenditure, you can start to make savings.
Put this money into a special vacation account and watch it grow.
Not only is this a great incentive to save; it also encourages you to put money aside to pay for large costs rather than reaching for credit.
This means that you can stick to using your credit card for smaller expenses that you can clear without having to pay interest.
You also get to spend less time tracking your credit spending when you know that it’s under control.
Do not forget the little successes
There is no doubt that budgeting effectively can be time-consuming and is not very exciting for most people.
This is why it’s so important to make sure that little achievements are celebrated along the way.
Of course, you need to find a celebration that is not going to cost a lot of money.
This could be something as simple as meeting friends for coffee or playing dress-up with your kids.
Remember that celebrating is not about money; it’s about enjoying yourself.
Small successes that you may want to celebrate include paying more than the minimum amount for bills or being able to make positive adjustments to your budget because your spending habits have improved.
Learn by changing your habits
One reason why many people find budgeting boring is that they see it as a restriction.
This does not have to be the case. Learning to budget, and be careful about spending, can actually open the door to other learning opportunities.
For instance, if you want to reduce the amount of money that you spend on eating out and take out, you can learn how to cook from scratch.
It’s possible to cook meals for the family when you have time at the weekend and freeze them to use during the week.
You can also learn how to fix zips and mend clothes so that you do not have to spend as much money buying new outfits.
Perhaps, you may even find that you enjoy this so much that you decide to try your hand at making your own clothes.
Give and receive support
If you have been doing well with your budgeting efforts, but your motivation dips and boredom creeps in, it can be difficult to stay on track.
For this reason, it makes sense to join forces with someone you know, and take your budgeting journey together.
This makes the whole process much easier.
You can celebrate the successes together and support each other when motivation levels are not what they should be.
Just like starting an exercise regime, sharing the experience makes it a lot less of a chore.
Use your mobile device
We live in a world where most people are used to using a smartphone in all aspects of their life.
Therefore, it makes sense that using a mobile app when budgeting helps to lighten the load.
It’s usually a lot less tedious and time-consuming to use a mobile app when attempting to budget efficiently.
There are plenty of these apps around.
They can help you to set goals and monitor your spending.
Having this information to hand all the time helps you to remain motivated.
In summary
It’s easy to become distracted by a busy life when you try to create and manage a budget and monitor your loan and credit card spending.
This can cause problems as you can lose focus and end up regularly spending more than you can afford.
You can see from the examples provided in this article that budgeting does not have to be boring.
Learning new things along the way, setting exciting goals and rewarding yourself all make it easier for you to remain on track.
It’s important that you pay attention to the positives and see budgeting as something that can improve your life and make you happy.
Having this attitude to creating and managing a budget means that you are less likely to become bored and unmotivated.
Instead, you will stick to the right path.
This means that you should be able to build savings, achieve your goals and make sure that any credit you have is under control.
Discussion: How do you keep motivated when it comes to budgeting and dealing with loans and credit cards?
Drop me a comment below and I’ll be sure to respond.
Mr.CBB
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