This week on the blog...
Ask yourself these questions as you come to an end of each month to create the best spending plan for the month ahead.
1. How Did My Actual Spending Compare to My Projected Spending?
This is the most obvious question you’ll want to ask yourself as you reflect on your spending from the past several weeks, but a lot of people don't acknowledge it - or take the time to look.
Did your actual spending match up with the amount of money you intended to spend in each budget category? Where did you overspend? Where did you spend less than anticipated? Don't suffocate yourself, but make sure you know what's going on.
2. How Do I Want to Allocate Any Surplus Money From Last Month?
If you ended up spending less than you budgeted for the month, what’s your plan for that extra money?
You have a few options. We go through these ratios in Module 3 of my TMM Program, where and how to allocate surplus, but at the end of the day, where your money goes is totally up to you.
3. What Was the Reason for Any Overspending?
If you spent more money than you anticipated, don’t be hard on yourself, but take a moment to analyze what caused the overspending.
Did you turn to retail therapy to counteract a stressful week? Did an emergency arise that you couldn’t have predicted? Reflect on why you spent more than you planned and what you could do differently next month.
4. Do I Need to Adjust Spending Limits for the Month Ahead?
As mentioned earlier, you don’t want to copy and paste your budget from month to month if your spending tends to fluctuate, or if you don't have fixed income.
This doesn't need to be stressful, but important to make note for the future.
5. How Do I Feel About the Purchases I Made?
In addition to reflecting on the dollars and cents of your spending, it’s also important to be mindful about your feelings associated with your spending — particularly when it comes to discretionary spending.
Are you satisfied with the things you bought? Were they useful? Was your spending aligned with your goals? Did your purchases bring you happiness? Or do you feel as though you wasted your money or rushed into making a purchase? Do you have regrets?
Keeping tabs on the emotions you feel after spending money can help you identify patterns you might need to correct.
Those are my hot budgeting tips to keep you on track in 2022!
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