How cute is this budget tin from the 1950's -1960's?I'm excited today as I have just opened a new savings account that I've nicknamed 'Yurt!' - I've been talking of living in my own yurt (or other sustainable dwelling) for a few years now, so I thought it was time to start putting my money where my mouth is, so to speak. Perhaps one day I will live in my dream yurt, perhaps not. But I am going to work it into my budget to put some money aside each month, so when the opportunity comes, I am ready : )
I used to be wary of the 'b' word - budget. When I had a fortnightly wage, I would just keep spending until the money ran out. Occasionally I would save something. More likely, at the end of the month I would also end up with a credit card bill to pay. Where was all my money going?
When I started working for myself, having a budget became essential. I had to know how much money I needed each month to cover the basic costs of living such as rent, bills, and groceries. I started keeping records of everything I was spending, and used this information to formulate a realistic budget. My budget is done on a monthly basis, and is divided into categories such as groceries, entertainment, and transport. I even have an Excel spreadsheet that calculates how much money I have left each month. I'm not saying you need to go this far, but it's certainly helped keep me on track.
One of the things I've found most useful is to set up several savings accounts for some of the bigger things I need to budget for. Each month I contribute to a 'Bills' account, which is there when I need to pay those big bills such as car insurance. I also have accounts for my business, such as 'Tax' (not my favourite one!) and other accounts for personal things such as 'Travel'. And now I have my 'Yurt!' account. These are all high interest earning savings accounts so the bank contributes to them every now and then also : )
Now I just need to start researching to find out how much a yurt actually costs.... : )
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