Our Malaysian government will be announcing their Budget 2023 in October 2022. How about you? Having been through COVID lock down, I really see the significance of planning finances ahead. Want to have a try on Budgeting? Here is one popular approach to budgeting for individuals.
Why need to simplify Budgeting
Finance has a way of getting complicated. Therefore, making your budget as simple as possible will give you better control over your finances so that you can focus on matters more important.
Simplifying your budget has positive effects on every aspect of your finances, helping you to get things under control. Stressing about your finances is a waste of time, so curb it today by creating a simple, easy-to-manage budget. Start by starting off with a simple spreadsheet.
Start with our best friend, Mr Spreadsheet.
Keeping things on a spreadsheet makes Budgeting so much easier. Set it up any way you want, or download a free template for Excel or Google Docs; Pick whatever works for you.
Use the famous 60-40 approach.
The Popular 60-40 Rules is a budgeting strategy that involves fitting your expenses into 60% of your total income. Break this 40% to Four parts. You can spread the other 40% to retirement, debt repayment, short-term and long-term savings, and entertainment or fun expenses.
First 10% : Investment aka Retirement
Put 10% of your gross income towards your retirement, for example, through EPF of other investment plans. Avoid touching that money for any purpose unless the circumstances are horrible.
Second 10% : Long-term savings
Dedicate 10% for debt repayment and long-term savings. If those are your preferred investment vehicles, such as trust fund or stock for the long run. Otherwise, park money in a savings account and only touch it in times of debt repayment or a financial emergency.
Third 10% : Short Term
Dedicate 10% of it to short-term savings. This money goes toward irregular expenses such as health care costs, car maintenance and repairs, appliances, birthday gifts, celebration and house maintenance costs. Spend that money when you need it because that is exactly what you are saving for.
Last 10% : You can still have the fun stuff too
Remember to dedicate 10% of your income to your “fun money”. You are free to use that money however you like. You can spend guilt-free money on movies, entertainment, eating out, comic books, junk food, or whatever else you want.
The trick is : Lump them together into bigger categories.
Reduce the number of categories that you are using. Many budgeting software programs tell you to use one million subcategories. If you want to streamline your budget, use only a handful of them. Instead of having one category for each line item, lump a few expenses into one larger category to simplify things.
With online banking service, automate bill payments so that you will not have to remember to pay bills every month. Consider automated bank withdrawals and paying bills online with an auto debit when possible. Every time your paycheck is deposited in your account, set up an auto transfer to deposit a certain amount into savings from your expenses.
Do take cash too
Aim to find a savings account with high returns for this purpose. Keep the fun money in the form of cash. Take out 10%, hold onto cash, and use as you please. Watching the cash disappear from our wallet can actually teach us a lot about where the money is going.
There are so many Budgetting style
You can discover more techniques for streamlining your budget if you do some googling. Be it as big as a country or boil down to the individual, we all need Budgeting to keep things in line and prepared. I do hope this article can work as a triggering point to start this Budgeting process.
Conclusion
Do what works best for you and your family. Avoid struggling with a new budgeting plan because you believe this one has to improve. If it is not helping your budget, it is not a “better” option for your needs.
Sometimes, simpler is just better. It gets this done faster when it is simple.
