9 Tips for Sticking to Your Budget

A few weeks ago, I shared tips on developing a personalized budget that works for you and your family. You can find that blog by clicking the following link. https://susaneball.blog/2023/03/30/how-to-create-a-personalized-budget-one-size-does-not-fit-all/

A reader wanted me to share some ideas on how to keep on track and stick with a budget. Often we desire to manage our finances and enthusiastically start the steps to wrangle in our spending but quickly lose the motivation and discipline. So, this post focuses on motivating yourself to follow the budget you developed to manage your finances better and achieve your goals.

What is Your Goal?

You should take the time to determine your goal(s). Simply saying that you want to save money is typically not incentive enough to save money. It is nebulous, and you will find that you can justify overspending when you have not determined a marker of how much to save and a date to accomplish this goal.   Setting specific financial objectives and developing a budget will take you one step closer to achieving success. Your plan will motivate you because every good spending decision brings you one step closer to your dream. Your goal should be unique to your life, and you might have multiple ones that you are working on simultaneously. If you have not thought about your financial plan(s), below is a list of some common ones:

1. Pay off debt(s). 
2. Reduce stress.
3. Improve your credit.
4. Save for a memorable vacation.
5. Save a down payment for a house.
6. Save for a new(er) car.
7. Retire early.
8. Invest in your retirement fund.
9. Save for your children’s college expenses.
10. Start your own business.

Keep Your Goal in Front of You

When my husband and I decided to buy a pizza franchise business, we knew we had to save money to invest in our company. We cut back on discretionary expenses, such as dining out. When we were tempted to go out to eat, we reminded each other that the money we saved by eating at home helped us to achieve our dream. To maintain our excitement about our future business venture, we worked on our business plan and discussed our business goals daily. We also sold possessions not needed in our new life so we could add to our investment fund. Sticking to our minimized budget and saving money was easy because we were excited about our new venture.

Celebrate Goal Milestones

Try to set intermediate goals and celebrate reaching them. It takes a long time to achieve many financial goals, such as paying off a large credit card debt or accumulating a down payment to purchase a home. The average home price is about $350,000, and the lender typically requires 6% as a down payment from the buyer. That means you will need to save $21,000 for the down payment. If you save $1,000 per month, it will take you nearly two years to put aside the down payment. To keep yourself from getting frustrated, set mid-goal milestones, such as saving multiples of $3,000, and celebrate hitting those marks. Your celebration needs to be modest and within your budget, such as having a reasonably-price dinner at a restaurant or purchasing an accessory for your future home. Also, you might make a chart to record your progress if you are visually motivated.

Focus Your Spending Attention on Discretionary Spending

Your mortgage or rent payment, car payment, and insurance premiums are set amounts each month. In the short run, you cannot change them. Of course, they are a significant portion of your budget and must be considered. However, it would be best to focus on areas of your budget where you have more flexibility. Consider saving money on utilities, telephone and internet services, food, clothes, recreation, and other miscellaneous spending.

Use a Bill Paying System to Make Bill Paying Easy

I have scheduled each regularly occurring, fixed payment bill to be paid using our bank’s bill-paying service. This system is great for paying the mortgage, HOA fee, car payment, and insurance premiums. Utility bills and other expenses that vary from month to month are delivered directly to the bank, making it fast and easy to pay them.

Set Regularly Times Each Week to Pay Bills

Setting a regular time to pay bills and balance your checkbook will reduce your financial stress. You can put bills out of your mind until it is time to deal with them. I balance my checkbook each Sunday morning before we go to church. Our church service starts later than a typical workday, and our Sunday morning routine is less hectic than our Saturday mornings. After breakfast, I pour a second cup of coffee and settle at the computer. It only takes a few minutes since there are only one week’s bills to pay and cleared checks to reconcile. 

Set Up Automatic Transfers to Savings

Once you have established your budget, you need one additional category added to your automatic transfers. This new category should be your savings. Once you determine that amount, set up an automatic transfer on the first of each month or the first payday. This is one less decision you must consider, and you are unlikely to be tempted to pull the money out of savings once it is there.

Make It a Family Effort

If you are married, it is important that you and your spouse work together to set your goals and achieve them.  If you have children, share your goal with them and build excitement.  This is a great learning opportunity for them, and will help them to understand why you are saying “No” to certain items they want you to purchase.  Set aside a time once a week or twice a month to assess where you are and hold yourselves accountable to one another.   As intermediate goals are met, have a family vote to decide on the reward, or take turns choosing the reward.

Recruit an Accountability Partner

If you are not married, you will want to recruit someone that you can review your spending with once or twice a month and who will encourage you to stick with your plan. Be careful not to sabotage your budget by asking your shopping buddy to be your accountability partner.  Perhaps you have a mentor at your work or church, or a parent, who has consistently demonstrated financial responsibility who would be willing to assist you.  Having an accountability partner greatly increases your chances of being successful in reaching your goal.

In summary, set goals, reward yourself for reaching your intermediate and long-term goals, and set up systems to make it easy to pay bills and live within your budget. The easier it is to monitor your spending, the more successful you will be in sticking with your budget.

To learn more about how to manage your money, please click the Finances categories tab to find many blogs on money management, budgeting, and stewardship. My book Honoring God with Your Money is a great tool for financial money management.