Getting real with financial responsibility

Friends, lets get real for a moment.

"Financial responsibility", words to be loathed, dreaded, and possibly pelted with rotten vegetables. But like dentist appointments, oil changes, and college football, if we go too long without them, life can fall into disarray.

But HOW?

Any tool is only effective if properly used. myBudget is only a instrument that is part of a greater process. If you don't commit to budget reform, myBudget won't help. Below is a how and why on easy budget reform with myBudget.

First thing is first, do an autopsy on your old spending habits. Take your past couple of bank statements, then review them to create broad budget types, such as Groceries, Gas, Bills, and Fun. You need to know how much is going in to each of these budget types, and then decide, is that where "x" dollars should be?

Next, take your total monthly take-home amount, start to portion the take-home into the budget types until you have a firm monthly dollar amount associated with each separate budget type. You should end up with something similar to the example below:

• Total take-home: $3000.00
• Groceries: $300.00
• Bills: $400.00
• House Payment: $1000.00
• Retail: $200.00
• Gas: $200.00
• Going Out: $200.00
• Investments: $300.00
• Donations: $400.00

Notice that for each family, distribution will be different. If you love to eat out, go for it, set a high budget for that type of thing. It's flexible and if after a month you see that you've poorly proportioned, change it!

The next step is the easiest to perform, but hardest to stick with. Become accountable. Every time you spend money, enter it into myBudget. As you progress through your month, you see your standing relative to where you should be, and to where the maximum limit is set. You'll never again blow your budget because you were uninformed. This is especially useful if your spouse and yourself share a bank account!

The most wonderful thing about this kind of healthy and successful budget is that, unlike its perception, it is truly freeing. Freedom with a budget?! Witchcraft! Heresy! But I kid you not friends, seeing that you've under spent on a particular budget type at the end of the month, it's like a little slice of Christmas Morning every month of the year.

Source