Plug the Leaks in Your Budget

First you need to track your spending habits in order to find out where the budget leak is. This is a simple process. Simply write down everything that you spend over the period of a month. If you use a money management computer program, you should be able to run a report of what you have spent in the last month, which will allow you see what categories you have spent the most on each month.

Next you should compare the amount that you have spent each month to the amount that you have budgeted. If you find you have great discrepancies, you have found your budget leak. Then you should ask yourself if the amounts in your budget are actually realistic or not. For example, you may find that you need to raise the amount in your grocery budget or the amount you spend on gasoline each month.

Then you should ask yourself why you are overspending in that category each month. Finding the reason for the budget leak will help you fix it. For example you may not have enough money to cover the rising cost of gas and groceries. Or you may overspend on the weekends when you go shopping with your friends, and buy stuff even when you are not planning on it. You may find that the drink from the convenience store on the way home from work each day adds up, and you don’t have a budget category for it.

Ask yourself how you can stop the budget leak. It may be that you need to adjust your budget to allow for the higher amount or you may need to change your habits and find other ways to spend your time. You should look at the reasons that you spend the money and consider how your choices are affecting your long-term financial goals.

Commit to your new plan, and continue to track your expenses. Take time at the end of the month to see if your spending habits have changed and how they affected your budget. If your spending habits have improved, great. If not you will need to take time to assess your habits again and make more drastic changes to get your budget under control.