Conquer Debt: Make a Budget

If you’re serious about getting out of debt, you must start by creating a budget. There’s no way around it.

The only way to see where your money is going is to map out your monthly income and expenses. In this, you must be brutally honest—all income and all expenses must be mapped out. Every dollar must be given a job.

There is an easy way to get started. Print out bank statements from the last three months and grab a few highlighters. Highlight expenses by category to see where your money is going.

Divide your expenses into groups. There are regular set expenses like car payments, housing payments and insurance payments. There are also utility payments as well as groceries, which are necessary but can vary from month to month. For these, you must create an average cost and put it down. These things must be budgeted first; they do not change, and they are protecting those 'four walls'.

Next, there are payments that you have promised to make. These include student loans, personal loans, credit cards, memberships, cable bills, etc. ( If you follow our program, we advise that you should not have some of these commitments, specifically credit cards and student loans!)

Then there are payments that change every month, but you need to plan for them. These include fuel for your car, vehicle maintenance, doctor visits, etc.

Once you formulate a sample budget, you can make educated decisions and adjustments to your spending habits and create a budget that will work for your needs.

Making a budget is relatively easy. Sticking to a budget and eliminating your debt is hard. Our team has helped thousands get out of debt. We can guide you. New debt freedom classes are starting monthly, as well as individual financial coaching. contact me for more information. I will be happy to help.