It’s no fun getting to the last week of the month only to realize that you’ve run out of money, and you’ll have to live like a pauper until payday if you want to be able to feed the kids and meet all of the basics of family life, especially when you know it doesn’t have to be that way.
So many people overspend, get into debt and manage their money poorly that having little or no money at the end of the month is very common. If it’s something you’re dealing with right now, here are some tips to help you take back control and have more money left at the end of the month.
Track Your Money
If you don’t know what you’re spending your money on, then you can’t change things. So, tracking your spending should be your first step to having more money left at the end of the month. There are numerous great apps like Monefy that can help you with this, but getting receipts for everything and entering the info into Excel will work just as well. The key is to track everything from your morning coffee to the monthly mortgage payment. Once you’ve tracked for a month, you’ll be able to identify areas of spending that are frivolous.
Consolidate Your Debts
If you have multiple loans, credit card debts and store cards that you’re paying off every month, there is a good chance that you could save money by using a secured loan for debt consolidation. You’ll only have to make one lower monthly payment, instead of several different ones, so it’ll be more convenient, as well as saving you money so that you have more to spare at the end of the month.
Withdraw Cash
Instead of using your credit and debit card, withdraw the amount of cash you would like to spend for the month, and divide it equally into four envelopes for each week. When the cash in one envelope has gone, you can’t open the next one until the next week (unless there’s an emergency). This sounds like something that wouldn’t really work because there’s nothing physically stopping you from breaking the rules, but it has helped a lot of people to stick to their monthly budgets.
Be More Frugal
Another great way to ensure you have more left over at the end of the month is to practice frugal living. You don’t have to go to extremes, but taking simple measures like home cooking all of your meals and mending clothes instead of throwing them away will see you spend significantly less over the course of a year.
Although these might seem like pretty simple tips, if you practice them all, you will notice that you have more money available to you in the week before your next payday, and that means you won’t have to struggle quite as much or worry about being able to pay for those little emergencies that crop up from time to time.