How Do You Really Make A Budget Work?[Tips for Overcoming Obstacles]

You’re ready to take control of your finances and use a budget to plan for your income and expenses. But that “b” word doesn’t exactly give you the warm fuzzies.

You know though, telling your money where to go is better than wondering where it went.

While budgeting methods such as the 50/30/20 percentage system, the “pay yourself first” method, zero-based budgeting, or cash in different envelopes can all work, there are plenty of obstacles to successful budgeting.

So let’s take a look at the challenges many people face when trying to create — and stick too — a successful spending plan.

Overcoming Budgeting Obstacles

Julie Grandstaff, author of Save Yourself: Your Guide to Saving for Retirement and Building Financial Security, explains that people she’s talked to about saving money or creating a budget make comments like:

“It’s pointless. Whatever I manage to save gets used up by some unexpected expense.” “Every time I try to live by a budget, something comes up that throws the whole thing off.”

If you’ve said something similar after struggling using a budget, you’re definitely not alone.

But, if you take some time to go through your bills, credit card statements, and bank records, you could probably predict the vast majority of your expenses.