Have you ever needed a budget break?
You spent money (not from your savings or credit card) carelessly. You are spending money responsibly.
Then one day, you decide to spend money without thinking about your budget.
A budget break
Now, you're having difficulty getting back on your budget after your spending break?
There are special occasions or certain times of the year when you don't care how much you're spending on coffee, or you want to splurge for the summer and take a break from cooking. Vacations are another occasion when we break from our budget.
A budget is a plan for your money. It estimates how much money you will have coming in and going out. Budgets are great for holding you accountable.
Budgets allow you to experience monetary control, stability, and freedom.
A budget break is a time when you spend carelessly. A budget break is different from using your credit cards or borrowing money. You spend money coming in on something reckless despite your budget.
It is not a budget break if you're using credit cards or borrowing money for the occasion.
For example, for one week in February, I don't cook. I don't care about how much I spend. I know my household costs and other bill payments are covered. I eat out for every meal. When the week is over, I don't immediately go back to cooking or following my grocery budget. It takes a few days to get back on budget.
Following a budget can be restricting and challenging, so a small budget break can lead to a difficult budget recovery.
1. Review your budget
Do you need to make a new budget, or does the old budget still work for you? After a budget break is an excellent time to make changes to your budget or create a new budget. Your budget describes your money on paper.
2. Track your money
Can you go from spending carelessly to following a budget overnight?
To get back on your budget, you need to keep track of your money for the first few weeks/months. The break included not using your personal finance app or writing your expenses down. You were living in the moment and didn't care how much you spent.
Tracking your money will help you cut back on spending.
Do I need to buy this?
Is this purchase a need or want?
Does it work in my budget?
3. Reasons for your budget.
To help you recover from your budget break, list some of your reasons for living on a budget.
Budgets help you be financially responsible, reduce spending, and save money.
Budgets allow you to control your money instead of your money controlling you.
If you to take a budget break:
Do not use your credit cards or borrow money.
Make the break short; the longer the break, the harder the recovery.
Use these steps to get back on your budget.
Budgets can be challenging to live with but beneficial in so many ways. Occasionally, you take a budget break and spend without thinking about your budget. Eventually, the vacation or holiday ends, and you need to get back on budget.
What can you do:
Follow these steps, recover from your budget break and get back to experiencing your monetary control, stability, and freedom.
Let me know what you did on your budget break and your experience getting back on your budget.
Contact us if you need assistance with getting back on your budget.
If you have never created a budget, follow me on Facebook or LinkedIn, where I will discuss budgeting and creating a budget.
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