There is a saying that if you fail to plan, you're planning to fail. Therefore, every consumer, business or organization needs to have a plan for their future. A short term plan must be accompanied by yearly budgets showing the projected revenue and how it will be spent throughout the year. This is what will push you towards financial independence and financial security.
A budget is simply a statement of income earned from all the available sources as well as all the expenses you will spend your money on throughout the year. By simply looking at your yearly budgets, you should know the annual income you expect to earn from your job, side business and dividends from stocks. You should also be able to see the total amount you are going to spend on your mortgage, taxes, living expenses, savings and major acquisitions. For instance, if you are planning to buy a new car without financing, the budget should be able to accommodate the expense without creating a deficit. Please note that the gross income on a budget must match the total expenditure.
When you have a budget, you will know the maximum amounts of money you must spend on each expenditure item on your list. For instance, if you have stated that you must save $24,000 in a year towards purchasing a new car, you must save $2,000 on a monthly basis towards this end. If you are not able to do this, you should know that another item on your budget is using up more funds than it has been budgeted for. This will prompt you to make the necessary adjustments to ensure things do not get out of hand.
A budget can help you to meet your goals. For instance, if you have listed things that you would like to acquire in a year, you can use the budget as a reminder as well as a scorecard as you can tick off anything you have acquired. As you continue to see more and more ticks on your budget, you will know that you are getting closer and closer to your short-term and medium-term financial goals.
If you do not know how to make a budget that makes financial sense, you may want to hire a financial adviser or an experienced accountant to help you out. These professionals are good with numbers, so they can help you to make an amazing budget that will help you to meet your financial goals.