₦airaland Forum

I hate to bore you with this budgeting thing. But come closer, haven’t we been told we need to keep a budget to keep track of our expenses and control them? Well, because what we don’t control, kinda control us. Okay, haven’t we tried in the past to formulate one and didn’t even know how or where to start or how to sustain the momentum when we finally started? True, maybe we budgeted the hard way. Huh? Seriously?

For the past three years, I have been exposed to budgets more frequently than I have had to polish my shoes; the very uninteresting part of my finance life. I have made friends and foes alike because of budgets. Yet this brother had never succeeded in preparing a personal budget for himself; it’s too boring an exercise. That was the case until only recently; when financial circumstances forced me to start rethinking the no budgetary approach.

What budget isn’t or won’t do?
1. Budgeting won’t make you a better money manager
Well, budgets won’t make you a better money manager overnight, though it can aid the process. Some prepare budgets and never follow them or even review them, what’s the point? Your budget is supposed to guide you to your financial destination, but whether you get there is entirely up to oga financial manager.
Only you, my friend can make you a better money manager.
2. Budgets wont review themselves;
You are the CFO of your life; unless you can afford a finance professional, then don’t hesitate to contact me, I will be your personal CFO. But until then, you run the shows. And that means reviewing your budgets from time to time. How do know if the budgetary process has been worth the fun? Enough said!
3. Budgets are not cast in stone
That’s the essence of any review. Circumstances change; you may start making more money or God may just bless you and your family with triplets.

What then is a budget and how is it supposed to help?
Read what budget isn’t or won’t do again.

Okay so a budget is simply an estimation of your revenue and expenses over a specified future period of time.

Further thoughts…Kinds of budgets
There are two different forms of budgets that I have used to manage Me inc in the past, which you oga CFO can use to manage yours.
a. Detailed budget
Here you list all the income sources and the various outlets the money takes to leave your pocket. Then allocating appropriately the inflows to the outflows in the ratio of your choosing. This is the way budgets are prepared really!
b. Undetailed budget or fun budget
This is an oversimplified version of the Balanced Money Formula of Elizabeth Warrenand Amelia Warren Tyagi.
With this I simply apportion my income into three segments (you can apportion yours the way you choose; just make sure you are saving something unless you have a lot of umbrellas)
1. Needs; 60%
2. Wants; 20%
3. Savings/Investment/Repaying debt: 20%
Finito!

What can help with tracking your expenses?

I use Mint. Lovely app.

www.lightednation.com

Nice one bro.

I have been keeping personal budgets since 2011 and always reviewed them as time n circustances change.


I can tell u this is one of the best things that happened to me.

It showed me my strengths n weaknesses and made me understand why a lot of people get into trouble.

I have tried helping ppl to have one but dey don't just care. Well,dts dir problem.

#shalom

yomi007k:
Nice one bro.

I have been keeping personal budgets since 2011 and always reviewed them as time n circustances change.


I can tell u this is one of the best things that happened to me.

It showed me my strengths n weaknesses and made me understand why a lot of people get into trouble.

I have tried helping ppl to have one but dey don't just care. Well,dts dir problem.

#shalom

I agree with you that a lot of people think its a waste of time. But IMO the benefits far outweigh the cost