Individuals facing financial hardship can take steps to improve their situations by developing smart habits like budgeting their money on a monthly basis. By creating a spreadsheet file on your computer or simply keeping a written notebook, debtors can keep track of their income after taxes and determine how much they can afford to spend each month. This includes sorting out all required expenses, such as insurance, utilities, car loans and rental or mortgage payments, as well as clothing, food and entertainment purchases.
Benefits of Setting a Realistic Monthly Budget Budgeting helps people stick to a set amount of money for each month, since many payments are required every four weeks. Creating some restrictions of this nature can help you avoid overspending and driving yourself into debt, the inability to recover from it, and rebuild your credit. This important skill is easy enough to learn. If you’re not sure of the first steps to take, our team at D. & A. MacLeod offers credit counselling in Kingston, Ottawa, and surrounding areas of Eastern Ontario. We not only specialize in bankruptcy, but Ottawa residents can turn to us for the guidance and skills that are essential to achieving financial stability. Budgeting can also help you manage debt proactively, rather than sink further into feelings of helplessness and ultimately decide to file for bankruptcy. While you should give yourself some restrictions on spending when it comes to extra items, a common mistake is being too strict too quickly. This will likely make your budget too extreme and unrealistic that you end up falling off the wagon. Naturally, you want to reduce your spending but the key is to cut back, not necessarily cut out everything. Denying yourself too many things will make you resentful; just focus on spending in moderation. At the end of each month, determine what you actually spent compared to how much you allotted for yourself, and make any necessary amendments to reduce your spending for the following month. Budgeting forces you to be more accountable with your money and more conscious of your regular spending. It is easy to discard small purchases as irrelevant, but when you start paying attention, you may notice that buying coffee every day adds up. In the long run, you want to save more to live better. Foregoing the little purchases can help you accumulate more money to perhaps go on a nice vacation, afford a new house, or replace your broken-down car. Contact Us for Budgeting & Credit Counselling in Kingston and Eastern Ontario If you’ve struggled with developing a budget for quite some time, you may consider seeking credit counselling. Whether you live in Kingston, Smiths Falls, Ottawa, or elsewhere in Eastern Ontario, our team is available to assist you. Many people suffer with debt, so your situation is certainly more common than you may think. Like many things in life, creating a budget is a learned skill and is a necessary component of a happy and financially stable future. D.& A. MacLeod can help you develop a customized monthly budget that limits your unnecessary expenses, gets your life under control, and gives you financial goals to strive towards. You will learn how to manage your debt, while maintaining or repairing your credit. Our team offers many others services that help debtors improve their financial situations, including consumer proposals, bankruptcy, debt consolidation, and corporate services. We can discuss various debt solutions with you, and help you choose the best option for your specific needs. Begin on the road to recovery and contact us today for a free, no obligation consultation at one of our 8 locations in Eastern Ontario. Return to blogs