How to Live on a Budget

During these uncertain times, the stability of your job or even whether or not you’ll be able to find enough food for your family is a reality we were never ready for. It’s more important now more than ever to get a handle on your spending and start living on a budget! Everyone loves saving money, and these five tips are going to help you start living on a budget right now.

How to Live on a Budget

Separate Your Budget into Fixed, Savings, and Variable Expenses

Your fixed expenses are categories such as mortgage payments, car insurance, and other expenses that are the same amount each month. Savings are for savings goals you are trying to reach or sinking funds. This could be for things such as Christmas, vacations, etc. The last category is for variable expenses. These are for areas where your expenses might fluctuate, such as gas or groceries. By dividing your budget into these categories, you’ll be able to budget your finances better.

Reevaluate Your Expenses and Bills

Make a list of every expense and every bill you’ve made in the last three months. Start going through and ask yourself these two questions. First, do I need to be spending money on this? The second question is, can I do something to make this expense less? Many times there are free or cheaper options for many of the expenses in our budget. With a simple call, you may be able to lower everything from your car insurance to your internet bill.

See how I called around and saved our family thousands of dollars a year!

Use Free Budgeting Tools to Help Keep You On Budget

Keeping track of your budget can be tricky, but there are a lot of free tools out there that can make the whole process easier. Websites such as Personal Capital, Mint or Every Dollar can make online budgeting easy, and help you identify problem areas in your budget. These are all free and will help make sticking to your budget easier.
You can't make a realistic budget without knowing what you realistically spend your money on. So keep track of your expenses. 

Find Creative Ways to Save Money

It’s time to flex those frugal muscles and find a few ways to spend less money! One of the best ways to save some cash is to sell items you no longer need, or by doing a spending freeze. Read more about the no spend challenge our family did in February. These are just two options, though, and the possibility for savings is endless! You could save money by swapping movie theatre movie nights for home movie nights or eating out less.

Here are 20 Things Frugal People do Every Day. How many do you do?

Challenge Yourself to Live on Less

Living on less sounds awful. I’m sorry, but I know it does. However, you may be shocked to find just how easy it is. During your time at home, ask yourself if you need to be spending money on bar nights with friends or going shopping. Take this time to live on less by challenging yourself to give up a few expenses to save more. You don’t need to attend a financial class or make living on a budget complicated. These five tips will completely transform your finances and help you live on less while still saving for the unexpected.
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