by Jet Villamor
Are you often surprised how fast your money got spent? Are you always caught in a situation where you’d ask yourself what you’ve actually spent on? How come you’re wallet is now empty? (Worst, you’d feel your child or your helper pocketed your money.)
If you’re always in one of those situations I’ve mentioned above, chances are, you’ve not really followed your budget. Or you might not have a budget at all. Budgeting is very important not only because we wanted to have a grip of our finances but more importantly, for me, a family budget is very necessary for a healthy family relationship.
Creating a budget would seem an exercise in futility especially when there is that lingering feeling that our finances is looking good and is in order. But most people who are true blue practitioners of making and following their own budget were more surprised than tired of making it. A good budget is your own police for keeping your spending in check and perhaps unearth some hidden cash flow problems which will ultimately result in helping you re-channel some freed funds towards a better and more rewarding financial goals.
The hardest part of making a budget is practically doing it. Creating a budget is like standing in the middle of nowhere not knowing where and what to do. There is no other better way of starting a budget than convincing yourself that you badly needed one. Taking control of your finances is not overnight. It is a long tedious process. I believe this is one of the most ignored processes in every household – the reason why a lot of Filipinos are hard up.
Most processes begin with proper documentation. Same is true with budgeting. If we really wanted to have control over our finances we have to document every centavo we’ve taken out of our pocket.
Listing down and keeping track all of our expenses is the only way for us to be able to monitor where our money went. Most financial experts would suggest a two month expense examination period, if you wanted a clearer picture a three month period is the most ideal as this will establish a quarter of your spending habits.
Expense recording need not be high-tech. What one really need is the will, the patience, the perseverance and the consistency. Make that resolve to take control of your finances now! Then start with expense record keeping.
I will be sharing with you some simple tips on recording our expenses next issue.
