Blogpost
How to set and adjust your monthly budget
We all can set a monthly budget, but can you also adjust your monthly budget? It is time for some reflection and adjustments in your budget. We do this to make the entire budgeting experience a good one without stress or feeling bad. The next month is approaching soon and we will reflect on our monthly budget. This easy budgeting spreadsheet will help you with your monthly budget.
where did you spend less money than expected?
We will start on a positive note. Look at all your budgeting categories and look where you have spent less money then planned in your monthly budget. After that you will have to check if it is exceptional that you didn’t spend as much or that you actually gave yourself too big of a budget. If that is the case you can either save a little more or you can put it towards a category where you have overspend.
oh no, i have overspent my monthly budget!
No worries, we have all been there. Budgeting does take some practice and we will never be flawless. Let’s have a look where you have overspent and why. Is it because of some unforeseen emergencies or did you let yourself go in the beauty store? Don’t be ashamed I was overspending my entire budget 3 months in a row. Here are a few tricks on how you can avoid this:
- Really look into possible expenses at the beginning of the month and take your time
- Learn from past mistakes, reflect monthly and adjust your budget
- Set an emergency fund that is large enough (I recommend 3 x down payment or rent)
- Think about what you buy and why
- Is there a cheaper or second hand option?
the basics of budgeting
You’ll probably have heard of the 20-30-50 budget. Here you spread out your paycheck into these 3 major categories. You can use this method to first start calculating how much you can spend on rent or a car. If you already have all these monthly bills and they don’t allow you to save, you first want to look into some changes.
For example I changed from saving 20% to only 10%, why? Because I bought a house with a large monthly down payment which I see as a large savings account.
As a young girl in her twenties I picked up a second job on the weekends. Which makes me around 300-400 euros a month working in a nightclub. I really love my colleagues and it is not necessary but I rather work more so I can spend more than look at every cent.
