All Costs: Certain Money Situations Require Drastic Measures

For the most part, you don’t need to be too hard on yourself when it comes to budgeting and subsequently saving money.

Most budgets, while needing work, don’t require an all hand’s on deck mentality. You can look a little closer on certain items, cut a little here and there, but an entire overhaul seems a bit much.

Then again, you have those certain situations that require drastic measures, and that’s exactly what it’s going to take to not only save money but climb out of debt and get your spending under control.

Probably the easiest way to start saving without hesitation is ripping apart your budget and starting with two basic elements: income and necessity spending only.

That means if you make $3,000 per month, you should factor in housing, food, transportation, gas, utilities and then see where you end up at that point and see how much you have leftover. Given that amount, you can begin focusing on credit card and other debt to see how you want to allot that leftover. Keep in mind a big part of saving money is knowing how to combat high interest rates, so when you consider the amount you want to put toward your credit card debt versus school loans, for example, you want to make sure you’re not doubling up on a school loan with three percent interest versus a credit card or line of credit that is double digits.

As for what to eliminate from your budget, you can’t overlook spending that would be deemed “wants,” such as shopping for clothes if you don’t need them or spending money on buying food out in restaurants. The real trick is teaching yourself that you don’t necessarily need certain things as the biggest problem with the lack of saving money is we put far too much priority and emphasis on things we’ve convinced ourselves that we can’t live without.

Individuals talk openly about how they “have to” get their hair done every two weeks, or “have to” get a message or nails done or how we “have to” subscribe to a certain cable package or you’ll miss your favorite game and other comments of that ilk.

Budgeting can be difficult and take measures that you wouldn’t normally take if the situation is dire, and that includes going lean and mean and only spending money on what you owe to others (creditors) and so that you have what you need to live, and nothing more.

While that sounds extreme, sometimes that is what it takes to save when all else has failed.