Real Budgets for the Real World | Richard Banks & Associates, P.C.

Show of hands, who has set a budget and failed to stick with it? Don’t worry, you’re certainly not alone!

Budgeting is a delicate balance, and often we can get a bit overzealous with our budgets. Our team at Richard Banks & Associates, P.C. understands the struggle that is creating and sticking to a budget and thought these budget tips for the real world would come in handy!

How do you create a budget for the real world you ask? First step—be realistic and save for unplanned events! We all want to tackle debt quickly but remember that your expenses add up and by not having enough wiggle room in your budget, you could find yourself stuck between a rock and a hard place in an emergency.

If you are neglecting your savings account or emergency savings fund, you are missing the mark on your budget. You can save a little extra money by finding a cheaper place to live, looking into cheaper phone plans, shopping for better insurance and even grocery shopping once a week to eliminate wasted food and wasted money!

A realistic budget also means taking your flexible spending into consideration. One of the first things to be cut from this area of your budget is entertainment, but flexible spending consists of much more.

Gas prices go up and go down, some weeks you need more groceries than others and occasionally you have to shop for new clothing items to replace worn-out ones or those that no longer fit. Make sure you’re leaving enough room in your budget to handle your flexible spending expenses!

Another pro tip to come up with a realistic budget is to always overestimate your budget. It’s easy to write things down on paper and assume you’re good to go, but we know that in the real world, things can go south quickly. Overestimating your expenses is a great way to ensure that you do have the funds available if or when those unexpected situations occur!

We hope these tips for a real-world budget help you come up with a way to create a realistic and sustainable budget of your own! If sticking to a budget isn’t enough to help remedy your stressful financial situation, remember that Richard Banks & Associates is here to help you explore options like bankruptcy.