Think Like a Saver Thursday- stick to your budget

Happy Grey’s Anatomy and Scandal day!  I’m also pretty excited about the premier of How to Get Away With Murder.  Thursdays make me so happy!

My Think Like a Saver Thursday series is wrapping up and how to stick to your budget is one of the last posts.  It is also one of the most important!  Last week I asked you to find a budget and this week I’m challenging you to learn how to stick to that budget.  Anybody can make a budget, but it takes real will power to stick to it.  I’d like for you to start small and aim to follow your budget for at least a month, more if you can.

Here are some tips to sticking with your budget.

• Revisit our first 6 steps.  There is a reason I saved budgeting for the last step.  If you were to dive right into a budget without the right motivation, it would be much harder to stick to it.
• Try to find the positive points in your budget and celebrate them.  If you are under budget on an item, let yourself feel good about it and use that extra money towards your financial goals instead of allowing yourself more money on another item.
• Don’t beat yourself up over your mistakes.  Just because you mess up once doesn’t mean you have to throw in the towel.  Learn from your mistakes so you don’t keep making them.

All you really need are those three tips!  It’s that simple!  Now go off and try your best to stick with your budget this month.  Next week I’ll wrap up the Think Like a Saver series and give you a few extra tips to save more money.

Don’t forget to revisit the first 7 steps:

1. Identify your goal and continue to remind yourself of it. Post it somewhere around the house and think of it often, especially when tempted to spend money.
2. Learn to be confident in your money-saving and spending habits. If you aren’t confident in the way you are saving money, it will be impossible to go on to the next step.
3. Be honest with your friends and family about your financial goals.
4. Identify your spending weaknesses and be aware of them.
5. Make a list of ways to overcome your spending weaknesses.
6. Decide whether to spend time or money on certain items.
7. Make a budget.
8. Stick to your budget!

Do you have trouble sticking to a budget?