Good Financial Reads: Easy Budgeting

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Catch up on some of the latest posts with this week's roundup:

How to Grocery Shop on a Budget

by Chad Rixse, Millennial Wealth, LLC

Are you feeling a little intimidated every time you go to the grocery store? How often do you walk in and spend way more than you anticipated? Do you keep asking yourself why does grocery shopping have to be such a chore? Well, the truth is, it doesn’t have to be. The separation is in the preparation when learning how to grocery shop on a budget. The single biggest piece of advice we have to offer is to start with meal prepping, or at the very least, meal planning. By doing this, you can easily eliminate those spur-of-the-moment, middle-of-the-day snack runs, overpriced trips to Starbucks, or expensive lunches out. Over time, little changes start to become a habit and, ultimately, healthy habits are the foundation of long-term financial success and stability.

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An Easy Way To Budget

by Jared Paul, Capable Wealth

Budgeting… One of the most exciting words in the English language!

Oh, what, you’re not jumping out of your seat, eager to hear what’s coming next?! Haha. I’ve written about ways to save more money on this blog, but creating an actual budget can be a bit more intense.

There are many opinions on the best way to do this, and today we’re going to discuss a popular one known as the “50/30/20 Rule.”

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Adopting the Bucket Budget

by Brian Thompson, Brian Thompson Financial LLC

 What was your New Year’s Resolution? Losing five pounds? Cutting down on the alcohol? Reading more books? Or did you decide to get your budget under control? I can’t help you with the first three, but this month, I’d like to offer some tips about budgeting, and particularly, point out an easy to employ strategy called bucket budgeting.

First, let’s state the obvious. Tracking every penny doesn’t work for a lot people. It doesn’t even work for every person in my household. Ben couldn’t care less about tracking. He humors me and reviews the joint, color-coded spreadsheet that I create every month. But he’s satisfied as long as he has enough money to contribute to our joint expenses, save the necessary amount to meet our retirement goals and buy stuff for himself.

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Best Way to Budget: Automation

by Levi Sanchez, Millennial Wealth, LLC

Budgets traditionally are defined as an estimate of income and expenditure over a set period of time. The traditional budget focuses on tracking expenses and determining how, and where to cut back. They aim to identify expenses that aren’t exactly necessary in order to pay off debt, increase savings, or reach another financial goal. The best part about building a traditional budget is people sometimes don’t realize where they’re spending money. Identifying how much you’re spending on coffee every month CAN result in behavioral changes if it’s shocking enough to warrant a change.

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