When it comes to your monthly income and paying bills, many families struggle to get to the end of the month. Commonly, the average family does not have a lot of excess income and, in some cases, carries over bills to the next month.
Financial struggles for families are not uncommon, yet most people don’t know how to improve their financial situation to pay bills on time and have money left to save at the end of each month. While increasing your income would be the obvious way to pay bills and have money to spare, this is not generally possible for most to accomplish.
Though it would not be discouraged to find ways to increase your income, the pursuit of building savings and paying bills on time can be accomplished by taking steps to be better with your income. Here is how you can build savings and pay your monthly bills without increasing your income.
Make a monthly budget
Although most believe they are in control of their expenses, most are not totally in control. The average American does not save and loves to spend outside their means. Making a monthly budget will help to gain control of your finances.
Every budget will include fixed expenses, including electricity, water, and mortgage or rent. In addition to those fixed expenses, there are phone bills, loans, food, transport to work or schools, and more. These bills are fixed in that they are there every month and generally do not vary in the amount, though they can fluctuate.
Most monthly budgets will include variable expenses. These are expenses that are not present every month and can vary in amount. Variable expenses can include medical expenses, school supplies, wardrobe budgets, and many other expenses.
The budget that is the most in your control is the non-essential expenses such as entertainment and any other spending on items you don’t need to live. Non-essential expenses are generally where most people spend outside their means.
Non-essential expenses can also include overuse of electricity, water, or other controllable expenditures where the expense could be cut down with a bit of concentration. In some cases, you can make permanent changes to non-essential expenses by learning to be thriftier. However, it is not suggested that you not enjoy life.
Non-essential expenses can be an area you can cut out or down on to pursue financial stability or savings, and once those are achieved can add back into your monthly spending. You can put a monthly cap overall non-essential spending or cut things out completely (or both.)
The most significant expense in most people’s budget is the mortgage or rent. In most cases, this cost is about one-third of the monthly expenditures. While this expense is the most significant monthly expense and less controllable, you can save by selling your home, purchasing a lower mortgage, or renting a less-rent property.
The main idea is that you balance your budget and keep it under control where you can. You can cut non-essential spending, cut back on usage, and pursue economic options. When trying to pay your bills on time and build a savings account for your future, the most important thing is that you stay focused and be willing to make sacrifices.
These sacrifices can be temporary or permanent, but they must be made if you don’t want to be behind on bills or in insurmountable debt. It is possible to live the American dream and stay within a budget. The American dream should be the pursuit of financial freedom.
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