While most people seem to be able to balance their income with their expenditure, it can quickly get out of hand if you’re not careful. All it takes is a couple of large, unexpected bills to roll in – perhaps a vehicle breakdown or a sudden medical bill – and this could prove to be an issue that could lead to debt.
Crunching the Numbers
If you approach your expenses in a logical manner, you need to list all outgoings; splitting your list into two parts – essential and non-essential items – and perhaps a third list for luxuries. Your essential list should include the following:
- Rent/Mortgage
- Utility Bills – Electric, gas, water and telecommunications.
- Transport Costs – Essential travel to and from work.
- Basic Food Costs – Not including non-essential items.
Non-Essential List
This will be the list that you can begin to delete things; non-essentials that are nice, but not essential for life, and your income would depend how many such items you include or delete. It is important to be honest with yourself regarding non-essential items, and if you crunch the numbers and some items must be removed from the list, so be it, at least until your income increases.
The Remainder
When you subtract your essential and non-essential numbers from your net salary, this will leave a monthly amount that you can spend, so to speak. One must remember that this amount has to last you until the following month’s salary is deposited into your account, so if it looks doable on paper, you should be fine.
Unexpected Expenses
While you may have things under control and even manage to save a little every month, there is always the risk of an unexpected expense turning up out of the blue, and in such a scenario, there are readily available quick loans online that will enable you to make the payments. Should you find yourself struggling with repayment, a debt collection agency can help you create a plan to get back on track. These agencies can be found with a simple online search. If you find yourself unable to manage these debts, a debt collection agency can help you create a repayment plan. These services and agencies can easily be found with a Google search. While you don’t want to borrow, there are sometimes no other option, and if it is a short-term loan, you can finish the payments in a few months and be back to square one.
Cost Cutting
There are many ways that you can cut down on your living expenses; sharing car costs with colleagues, riding a bike rather than driving to work, or finding an alternative transport method that is cheaper than the one you normally use. Cutting out on small luxuries is sure to have a positive effect on your finances, all you need to do is identify these items and employ some self-discipline.
Adding to your Earnings
This is one way to deal with rising costs, and if you have the time (and energy) to handle a second job, why not? You might be able to do some overtime at work, which will make a difference at the end of the month, but if not, you could maybe find some part time online work to help pay the bills. If you decide to pick up overtime, make sure your employer is properly paying you, if not you may be entitled to recover lost wages plus interest and penalties.
If you create lists and have a degree of self-discipline, you should be able to balance your income and expenditure, which means you won’t be stressed out about money.
