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Why should I budget? |
Budgeting - First Steps |
Budgeting - The Nitty Gritty |
Budgeting - Moving On |
Budgeting - Tips |
Tools of the trade |
You've struggled through university for 3 or 4 years, living on a limited income, probably building up a sizeable debt in the process. Now, you have a job and a monthly salary to go with it. Unfortunately, you've probably got a whole host of extra expenditure to go with it too. Managing your money is still important as you're probably aware - you never seem to have enough money at the end of the month. |
This can be remedied by a little planning and having a budget that is realistic for you, still lets you enjoy your life, but also enables you to be in control financially. OK, we've sneaked in the word budget which isn't the most interesting of subjects. Nor might it be on your list of priorities after 3 or 4 years living on student finances, but most of us don't go straight into a well-paid job and it is easy to think that we still don't need to watch our expenditure. |
Just like work expands to fill the available time, so expenditure grows to consume available income! |
Why should I budget? |
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Think of a budget as a tool which allows us to have a first line of defence, that is, to make certain that we have enough money each month to buy our necessities and meet our obligations on time. These are likely to have increased substantially since university - living in better accommodation, buying a house, repaying student loans, transport to get to work etc. |
The second vital objective of a budget is to help us know where we are spending our money, essential knowledge when we want better control of our money. This may sound patronising but how many of us at the end of each month cannot tell where our monthly salary has been spent. Without budgeting, a large proportion of income is frittered away. |
Get Adobe Acrobat Reader to view our sample budget sheet.