Draw a proper spending plan

With no doubt our lives are surrounded by expenses thus we all need money to cater for our needs and wants.
Where there is lack of money, you will notice a near crisis in people’s lives and ultimately in the economy.
If we all have a spending plan you will realise that people can live sufficiently within their levels of income at a given time.
By taking a hard look at what you do with your money, you can begin to set some limits and shift money around between spending and saving which is called managing your finances.
We can ably spend with a plan if we consider the following factors.

Having a spending limit
You need to come a plan on what to spend and stick with it. You need to pledge to yourself and have a limit beyond which you can spend.
For instance, if you make it a point to spend only Shs10,000 a day, you must make sure that you have a clear source of income from which you will get this money.
Otherwise, start with what you can count on or the average in order to be sure of how much is coming in so as to plan.

Write down your plan
By recording your plan, you are giving yourself power and authority to be in control.
I know some people hate writing down their spending plans because they trust their brains but brain gets tired thus you might forget some of the most important aspect when it comes to shopping.
Therefore, the only way you be safe is by recording your expenditure.

Be practical
Being realistic and flexible in your plans helps you make good choices with our money.
You need to change your habits in order to make you spending plan practical.
If your plan is not working, find out the reasons why and make adjustments where you need to.
If you find out that you had over anticipated on your incomes, then make adjustments that are within your income.

Eliminate some
If you don’t have enough money to do everything you want make tradeoffs and give up on things that you can do without.
Alternatively, you can spend your extra time to make more money either by working extra hours or developing a skill that can help make more money.

Know your expenses
It’s important to know the difference between fixed and flexible expenses in order to spend your money in a smart way.
Fixed expenses are regular amounts that generally don’t change much such as rent and flexible expenses are regular too but can be controlled such as groceries. On average a family wastes 30 per cent of its money through unexamined spending therefore it’s important to pay attention to your spending habits.

Stick to the habit
Artistes become better through practicing. Once you have created your first spending plan begin to use it and get a good feel of how it can keep your finances on track over time. However, you will have to make more spending plans to suit changes in relation to needs and lifestyle.
You may want to map out your spending plan for six months to a year and by doing this you can easily forecast which month your finances may be tight and which ones you will have extra money

Consult
Obtain information on how to make a desirable and achievable spending plan in order to get on track in managing your finances. Creating this spending plan allows you to determine in advance whether you will have enough money to do things you need to do or would like to do. By consulting, you obtain information on how to make better decisions.

Annet Katusiime is a certified financial literacy trainer: [email protected]