Making a
budget – and sticking to it – can be the difference between achieving your
goals and not achieving them. Here are some hints:
1.
On one side of your equation is the money you have coming in, i.e. your
monthly fixed income. It is the amount you typically receive in one month. If you
get money on birthday or at Christmas, divide this total by 12 and add it to
your monthly fixed income.
2.
There is a 30-30-10 rule in budgeting. This rule says that 30 percent of
your income should go toward spending, 30 percent should go toward short-term
savings goals, 30 percent should go toward long-term savings goals, and 10
percent should be donated to charity.
3.
On spending side, identified several values below that are important to
you and see how each goal relates to one or more of the values you identified.
Cross goals off your list if they don’t really related to your values.
Donovan,
Sandy (2012). USA Today. Teen wise
guides: Budgeting smarts. MN: Twenty-first Century Book.
