Successful single income budgeting

When you have only 1 income, the traditional “budget cutting tips” normally do not apply.I have nothing against credit cards, but personally do not have one of my own.True they can assist in boosting your credit score when used properly, but how many of you who use credit cards do so wisely?

They also do well in emergency situations, but how often can “emergency situational use” of credit cards be cut back if you start planning for emergencies in the future.

The best advice I can give on credit cards, is pay them off. If you have more than 1, pay the minimum, but concentrate on additional payments to 1 at a time. And stop using them!Slowly you will be able to get out from under them, as youpayoff balance on each card, cancel it.

The simplest answer to getting a handle on your finances is self sacrifice!

If you are serious about doing better than living paycheck to paycheck, then small sacrifices are really not that difficult.

The 1^st step is always knowing what you need to pay your bills on a monthly basis compared to what you make. I take it a step farther, and break down what my monthly bills are and figure what I need to pay my bills on a weekly basis.After deducting the basic bills, I then have a budget for fuel, food, and household expenses.

I then know how much I need in my checking account each week to be able to pay bills on time. I then take the additional household budget out in cash and leave the debit card alone.

If there are any expenses that can be cut out, tanning, manicures, dining out excessively, movie rentals, impulse shopping., gym memberships that you could gain the same workout in your own home, so on and so forth, then cut them out. It may seem difficult in the beginning, but keep your ultimate goal in mind.

With my budget planned on the average 4 week month, I get an additional 4 months out of the year with 5 Fridays. Meaning, that if you slip from your budget you have that extra week to make it up. Or if you have stayed on track, you can splurge on yourself, and still have some left over to stash into a savings account.

Another fun fact, is take advantage of our postal system. Many over the phone payments charge additional fees, which may not seem like much at the time, but by mailing in my electric bill rather than calling it in, I save over $40 a year.

At my bank I have an automatic transfer from my checking to savings on a monthly basis. The minimum is $10.00, but at the 1^st of the month it is transferred doubling my interest rate.With my weekly needed balance for vital bills, I can transfer additional money on a weekly basis to my savings skipping the last week ( as the auto transfer happens on the 1^st ) and still get the additional interest.

In my case it isn’t much, but it is simple. And any steps made in a positive direction lead to more.