How do you spend your Money?
May 3rd, 2008 by Chris
The money that you earn is yours to do with as you please. Of course, if you are like most people, you have obligations that you must meet. For instance, there is a good chance that you have a mortgage payment, or at the very least rent. To go along with this, a large number of people are also responsible for car payments, student loans, utilities, and much more. After all of that, how is anybody expected to have money leftover for fun?
If you do not know how you spend your money, it is important that you get to the bottom of this problem right away. You do not want to become one of those people who never balance their checkbook because “the money is always in there.” If you go through life living this way, you will find it difficult to save. Not to mention the fact that you will never know if a mistake was made that may have cheated you out of your hard earned cash.
In April I earned approximately $5,800 through freelance writing. Since this is my full-time job, this is all the money that I have coming in. At the beginning of every month, I go over my budget and decide where every last penny from the previous month is going to end up. Is this going overboard? Some people may say yes, but for me, I like to know where all my money is at. It makes me feel in control, and with that, I feel more confident that I am doing the right thing.
Although everybody is different, I divvy up my money in this order every month:
1. Expenses including mortgage, car payment, health insurance, utilities, groceries, etc.
2. Savings including retirement accounts, online accounts, CDs, etc.
3. Money for entertainment such as eating out, movies, and sporting events.
The reason that I work in this order is simple. First and foremost, I have to pay any bills that are due; that is if I want to keep my house and be able to watch television.
From there, I always try to stock away as much as possible into accounts for the future. Even though retirement is a long way away, time has a way of passing us by. To go along with this, I like to stock away some extra bucks in an emergency account each month.
Finally, it is important to have fun in life. Sure, it is important to pay your bills on time and save for the future, but if you are not having any fun along the way you are going to lead a dull life. Many people see entertainment expenses as wasted money. While I can see where they are coming from, I disagree with them at this time. I like to have fun, and it is important to save money for activities that will allow me to do so.
All in all, there is no law that says my way of doing things is right. In fact, I am sure that many readers will disagree with how I spend my money. But as I mentioned earlier, that is the great thing about the money you earn: it is up to you to decide how it is spent!
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