Making a Budget Will Help You Achieve Your Financial Goals

Read More About Financial Planning

The availability of easy credit has helped to make us the largest debtor nation in the world. We constantly spend what we don't have and the result is putting many of us one or two paychecks away from losing our home. Budgeting is not taught in many schools - but it should be. It can make the difference between living a good life and living a life of misery and deep in debt.

The reason we budget is so we can pay for our necessities but still live and enjoy a reasonably comfortable life. This means that if we're making $32,000 a year, we don't buy a million dollar home. Instead, we find a more suitably priced home in the nicest neighborhood that we can afford. If we are barely making enough to feed our family we don't splurge on a 56 inch flat screen plasma television. We conserve our money and buy a more modest TV.

For most of us, budgeting is not fun. As you might expect, it takes work and effort. It also takes the ability to stay with a plan. But if we expect to be able to live the American dream - we are going to have to learn to take control of our money and make it work for us.

The main purpose of a budget is to keep you from spending too much money on things that you don't need. It can be so tempting when watching those late night infomercials and you see the Atomic Weed Destroyer that will kill all of the weeds from your garden with a single push of a button. You whip out your wallet, call the 800 number, and order it for the low, low payment of $19.95 a month for 3 months. A budget, if you follow it, will make you think twice before picking up that phone. Or maybe you go into a grocery store planning to spend $60 but instead come out with a $100 grocery bill. A budget, if you follow it, will make you stop and think before adding that extra item to the grocery cart.

A secondary purpose of a budget is to help you save money towards future acquisitions or future goals. For example, if your child, Johnny, is three years old and you want him to attend college, you'd better start planning and budgeting your money so that when he reaches 18, he has money for his tuition. Likewise, if you have just married and know that you want to buy a house in five years, now is the time to set aside a certain amount of money each month so that you have enough for a down payment in five years.

It may not seem obvious, but one of the biggest goals or dreams that a budget can help you to attain is financial independence. It's often said that 'It's not how much you make, but how much you save." And it's mostly true. We've all heard the stories of famous boxers and other entertainers who at the peak of their career raked in multi-million dollar paydays. But somehow, at the end of their career they ended up broke, on the streets, waiting tables, and so on. Did they not make enough money? Or did they simply fail to budget their money properly?

When all is said and done, we have a basic decision to make. Do we emulate those famous celebrities? Do we mindlessly throw away all the money that we have made and risk ending up destitute with no retirement security? Or do we take control of our money and our lives by creating a budget that will help us to make the most of what we have? To be blunt, most Americans make the wrong choice. Don't you make the wrong choice too.

Article Source: http://depositarticles.com/

David Hoyer is a freelance writer who writes articles relating to chapter 13 bankruptcy law explained, chapter 7 bankruptcy information, and other financial issues. Visit his site for more information.

Please Rate this Article

Not yet Rated

Click the XML Icon Above to Receive Financial Planning Articles Via RSS!

Additional Articles From - Home | Finance | Financial Planning

Our other websites
All about SEO
Beauty Tips Forum

	Print This Article
	Post Comment
	Add To Favorites
	Email to Friends
	Ezine Ready

Submit Articles
Member Login
Link Us
Submission Guidelines
Ezine Notifications
Article RSS Feeds
Sitemap

New Stuff
About Us
Developer
Good shopping portal
Link to Us
Contact Us
Privacy Policy
Terms of Service