Have you been wondering whether or not you need to develop a financial budget? Here’s a simple Yes/No quiz that can help you understand your BQ or Budget Quotient.
1. Are you already short of money when there are six or more days left in your pay period?
2. Have you received at least one call from a creditor in the past 30 days?
3. Have you maxed out one or more credit cards?
4. Have you put more at least $200 in savings during the past six months?
5. Are you 30 days or more late on one or more bills (such as your phone bill or car payment?
6. Does your checking account balance average less than $250?
7. Do you have more than four credit cards?
8. Would it be a real emergency if your car suddenly needed a $500 repair?
9. Have you considered taking on a second job in order to make ends meet?
10. Have you talked with any financial institution about debt consolidation within the past 60 days?
If you answered “yes” to all 10 of these questions, your BQ is 100 and, boy, do you need to start work on a tough budget immediately.
Did you answer yes to six or more of these questions? Then you also need a budget. This is especially true if you answered “yes” to questions #3, #5, #7, #9 and #10.
If you are married, you must discuss budgeting with your spouse. It’s not enough for just you to develop a budget. You must both review your finances and agree on how much to budget for specific categories such as clothing, entertainment, gifts, pet care, cable or satellite and food.
What’s important in setting up an annual budget is making sure you have thought about all possible categories and that you have budgeted for each one realistically. Dig out all the checks and receipts you can and use them as a starting point. If you don’t have any checks or receipts to help you in a specific category, you’ll have to just ballpark an amount to begin. Then, start saving every possible receipt and check so that, at the end of every month, you will be able to see exactly how much you’ve spent by category and how this compares with its budgeted amount.
You will most likely find that you have to increase the amount budgeted in some categories and reduce your spending in others.
Of course, developing a budget is only half the battle. The other half is sticking to it. If you handle the family’s finances and don’t fell you have the self-discipline required to stick to a budget, maybe you should turn over the household finances to your spouse.
Creating and sticking to a budget isn’t easy. It takes work and determination. But it’s the only real way to work yourself out of debt and enjoy a happier, less stressful life.
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