{"id":4768,"date":"2008-09-12T03:11:45","date_gmt":"2008-09-12T08:11:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/magic1host.com\/blog\/2008\/09\/12\/developing-a-budget-can-increase-income\/"},"modified":"2008-09-12T03:11:45","modified_gmt":"2008-09-12T08:11:45","slug":"developing-a-budget-can-increase-income","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/magic1host.com\/blog\/?p=4768","title":{"rendered":"Developing A Budget Can Increase Income"},"content":{"rendered":"
by William Blake<\/div>\n

Creating a budget is easier said than done. It requires keeping good records, balancing your checkbook and organization. Many are not motivated to do it or simply do not like to work with numbers. <\/p>\n

Even if a person is not good at budgeting, the benefits make it worth the effort, even if it requires getting outside help. A good budget accounts for monthly income and expenditures, and anticipated changes in these. It is also important to plan for unanticipated changes. <\/p>\n

If you feel uncomfortable using spreadsheet software – which is available for free these days either through Open Office or Google Docs & Spreadsheets – at least jot down some figures on a legal-sized pad. <\/p>\n

Whether you are using a spreadsheet or a notepad, here is an easy method to follow: Separate your page into two columns, one for income and one for expenditures. Expenditures should include regular monthly bills, amounts spent on food, transportation and other routine expenses. If possible, include an extra 10% for miscellaneous expenses that you could not anticipate. <\/p>\n

Now, for an important add-on task that too few undertake: project different scenarios. Make another budget (an imaginary one) that shows monthly costs, income and the difference between the two… except:<\/p>\n

Exclude monthly credit<\/a> card interest amounts. Exclude auto loan interest. Exclude 25% of any ‘impulse buy’ amounts. Then sum the total of those three.<\/p>\n

Possibly non-essential expenses make up only a small portion of your total expenditures. However, even if the total is a minimum 10% by eliminating them you can notably increase your available income. <\/p>\n

Of course, reducing the amount you allow for non-essentials will require some sacrifice. Only you can decide if it is worth the effort to save for an item rather than charging it and paying interest. However the savings on interest charges makes it worth considering. Even a relatively small credit purchase can accrue interest of $100.00 or more in one year and even more if only minimum payments are made. Having an extra $100 in your pocket may make it worthwhile to consider paying cash. <\/p>\n

Only you can decide which is worth more to you, but developing a budget will help you make those decisions rationally.<\/p>\n

\n
About the Author:<\/div>\n
Is credit counseling the ideal way for you to get out of debt<\/a>? Possibly, but there’s no one best way for everyone. Visit the Debt Smackdown website at http:\/\/www.debtsmackdown.com for more helpful information about getting rid of your debt for good..<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Creating a budget is easier said than done. It requires keeping good records, balancing your checkbook and organization. Many are not motivated to do it or simply do not like to work with numbers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":540,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[77],"class_list":["post-4768","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-business","tag-business"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/magic1host.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4768","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/magic1host.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/magic1host.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magic1host.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/540"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magic1host.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4768"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/magic1host.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4768\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/magic1host.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4768"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magic1host.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4768"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magic1host.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4768"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}