Making a Budget... Not a One Time Deal!

Here is a nice article about making a budget. The parts I wanted to highlight are tips #8 & #9.

8. Assess your budget. At the end of each month, look over your expenditures to see if they are matching up to your budget. If they aren’t, determine if you need to work harder to stick to your spending plan; or if you need to rework your budget to reflect your actual spending.

9. Assess and assess again. A frugal budget is never finished. Continue to look over your budget every month to catch areas of overspending. Then, crunch the numbers again until you’ve made it right.

This shows that a budget is an ongoing thing, not a one time deal. If you make a budget then go living life as normal, you are not budgeting. You should continually assess your budget to check your progress and make improvements.

For example, when your contract period is over for bills such as insurance, cell phones, cable TV, Internet, and home phone, take the time to get new quotes to improve your rates. If you are happy with your service and feel apprehensive about changing carriers, take the quotes from competitors and show them to your current carrier. They will usually match (or even beat!) the competitors rates.