What are some tips for sticking to a budget?
(END VIDEO CLIP) RAMSEY: Nate, that’s a very good question. Well, the first thing is is your budget needs to reflect reality. It doesn’t need to reflect what you wish your life was. I wish I could live on $100 per month in food, but you can’t. I wish gas prices were 50 cents a gallon, but they’re not. And so, you’ve got to say what do I really spend? What do I really need on this category? And that can include some reduction in spending. Maybe you’ve been over spending on clothing and so your clothing category represents, you know, a reasonable amount but it needs to be reasonable. Sometimes I’ll sit down with people who are in trouble financially and they put zero in the clothing category. That’s very weird because I’ve never met with any naked people. So you actually have to sit down and have a realistic budget. The second thing you want to do to make your budget work is you need to do a new one every month that is unique for that month. Each month before the month begins, spend ever
• Make sure you write it down. Give every dollar a name on paper. Spend your income on paper before you spend it for real. Get free, downloadable budgeting forms • Stay away from places that tempt you to spend. If you are having trouble with spending money on things that you didn’t budget for and it isn’t an emergency, you have to crack down on yourself and get serious. It’s a sign of maturity when you delay pleasure today so that you can ensure a better tomorrow. • Try using Dave’s envelope system to help you spend cash and to spend that cash where you’ve budgeted it to be spent. Take some envelopes, write the budget categories on the envelopes, and use only the allotted money to purchase specific things. When an envelope is empty, don’t buy anything else in that budget category. • Stay motivated! Don’t give up! A budget is a tool because it gives you hope that your money situation can and will get better. One thing that can steal your hope is dwelling on the failures of the past or t
