• Home
  • About Me
    • Contact Me
    • Disclaimer
    • Privacy Policy
    • Recommendations
  • Budgeting
  • Dividend Income
  • Making Money
  • Saving Money
  • Shop
    • Facebook
    • Pinterest
    • RSS
    • Twitter

The Frugal Cottage

Living the good life on a budget.

  • Crafts
  • Investing
  • Recipes

3 Easy Ways To Stick To A Budget

July 18, 2014

After writing a post on Tuesday about how to make a budget I thought I would do a follow up post on how to stick to your budget. Budgeting is such an effective tool if used correctly and in a way that suits your needs, but sticking to it may be the hard part.

 

3 easy ways to stick to a budget:

1) Don’t make it too tight. There are two camps in respects to a budget; those who budget to the penny and those who budget and hope for some left over. I am not a fan of budgeting to the very last penny, just in case there are any unexpected expenses during the month that I’d rather not dip into my emergency fund to cover. I usually try and leave about £100 left in the budget for this. A very rigid budget with no breathing room in it isn’t a fair representation of life; we all have those unexpected expenses crop up from time to time

 

2) Be realistic. It’s all very well making a budget for every category and then being realistic about what you actually spend. Like I said in the last post, if you don’t know how much you spend on certain aspects, then now is the time to start to monitor! There’s no point in saying “£100 on food for four for a month, we can do that!” when you normally spend £250 as it’s not a realistic aim for your budget. Also, allow for some treats if your budget allows, so that you don’t go mad without anything!

 

3) Planning. A budget will only work if you plan for things in advance and plan when you’re going to spend. For example, I don’t spend anything during the week so they are NSDs (see more on that here) but I know that I normally spend on a Saturday, so plan most of my spending for that day. Little spends during the week and other unplanned spends add up to a lot during the month whereas if you plan ahead, these can be eliminated.


What do you think; do you agree with me? Any other tips for sticking to a budget? Or do you hate budgeting and don’t do it? I’d love to hear from you!

 

Follow me on:

Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest

PIN FOR LATER:

Share Button

Filed Under: Budget12 Comments

You might also like...

Meal Plan Monday #6
How To Prepare For A No Spend Month
A Buyer’s Guide To Laminate Flooring
How To Find The Right Mortgage For You.

Comments

  1. No More Waffles says

    July 18, 2014 at 7:23 am

    Nicola,

    I totally agree that these tips will benefit people who are just starting out budgeting their expenses. By far the hardest part is setting realistic goals, like you said.

    To me, though, these rules don’t apply. I sort of have a weird way of keeping a budget in that I try to limit all of my necessary expenses combined to a certain amount. Unexpected costs I’ll try to justify by calculating how long the ‘investment’ will last (e.g. when I buy a vacuum cleaner or something). And I always have a certain amount of money dedicated to fun stuff!

    Have a great day,
    NMW

    Reply
    • Nicola says

      July 18, 2014 at 10:32 pm

      So you just try and keep everything as low as possible and then save the rest? Not a bad way to use your money either! It’d be interesting to see what your percentages are in terms of spending/saving.

      Reply
  2. Even Steven says

    July 18, 2014 at 10:03 pm

    I like to have a zero based budget so I have more restriction in my budget than your proposal. I think your budget gets better and better over time.

    Reply
  3. Lisa E. @ Lisa vs. the Loans says

    July 18, 2014 at 11:25 pm

    Budgeting down to the penny is difficult. I try to have a zero-based budget, but I always have a little cushion in my accounts just in case something doesn’t go as planned.

    Reply
  4. DivHut says

    July 18, 2014 at 11:56 pm

    I agree about not making it too tight or too long term either. Keep it short and light. Baby steps makes keeping to a budget or anything for that matter easier. Thanks for sharing.

    Reply
  5. Will says

    July 19, 2014 at 12:05 am

    I don’t use a budget at all. Heck, I recently posted about my antibudget. They aren’t any fun and my life is constantly changing so I choose to pass on the idea. Some people like it budgeting though and that’s cool.

    Reply
    • Nicola says

      July 20, 2014 at 2:07 pm

      I can’t imagine not having any kind of budget! I like to know these things 🙂 but good for you, if it doesn’t work for you then there’s no point in trying to make it work.

      Reply
  6. E.M. says

    July 19, 2014 at 2:05 pm

    These are definitely three great ways to ensure a budget can work for you. So many people aren’t realistic with their spending, and get discouraged as a result. It’s important to kind of go easy, especially as you first start out. You can always adjust!

    Reply
  7. Shannon @ Financially Blonde says

    July 19, 2014 at 5:56 pm

    I think the biggest issue I see with client’s setting budgets is that they are not realistic on their spending. I have client’s with spreadsheets telling them what their budget should be and they frequently are no where close to what they are actually spending. Not making it too tight is a great point for people who are just starting to budget. If you are too hard on yourself, you are more likely to give up.

    Reply
  8. Kara says

    July 19, 2014 at 10:47 pm

    All of those tips are great! I budget, but I allow a little flexibility because otherwise I drive myself crazy!

    Reply
    • Nicola says

      July 20, 2014 at 2:06 pm

      Yes, I think a bit of flexibility is a must, I don’t know how people do a zero budget where there’s no room for error.

      Reply
  9. Michelle says

    July 26, 2014 at 11:32 pm

    The problem that I have had with my budget is that I never budget in fun money. We are always going over budget because we never set aside enough so that we can actually “live.”

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Newsletter

Sign up to receive a weekly newsletter!

Please wait...

Thank you for signing up!

 

Shop

shomos-2016-winner-badge

Popular Posts

Deprivation Pay Yourself Early Retirement Save Income organise finances job cost Spend Less

Recent Posts

  • Ten Years Of The Frugal Cottage
  • September Aims
  • 5 Money Saving Ways For Tyre Care
  • The future of The Frugal Cottage
  • 7 Money Saving Ways For Your Winter Car Care Routine
Copyright © 2025 The Frugal Cottage · Custom site by Moonsteam Design · Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2025 · The Frugal Custom Theme by Moonsteam Design on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in