3 Reasons Why Your Budget is Failing You [+ How To Fix It]

Alright so you took the time to make a budget but for some reason, it's not doing a darn thing to help your financial situation.  That's SO frustrating and it makes you feel like giving up.  I mean why bother trying to make and be on a budget, if it's not doing a darn thing to better your situation. 

Well, if any of the below points are reasons your budget is failing you, the good news is that I have ways to turn it around! 

>>> And before we start - if you need a budget template - get one for free right here! <<<


New expenses keep popping up each month that you don't account for in your budget.
This is a very common problem.  People always tell me that they are doing great on sticking with their budget and then all of a sudden an emergency happens and they realize they don't have a part of their budget dedicated to that.  

So what do you do? Well, first make sure you have an emergency fund of $500-$1,000 set aside for emergency expenses so you don't have to throw off your entire budget whenever they arise.  Also, make sure you take a look at these so called "emergencies" and see if there's a way you can incorporate them in your budget by creating a new category or designating them to an existing category.  For example, car issues should be covered by your car fund which technically acts as mini savings fund with the money you set aside each paycheck.  Or, if you have pets that get sick, create a vet fund.  People tend to think that if the expense is not on a regular basis they don't need to include it in their budget.  But by including it in your budget, you're actually making somewhat of a mini savings fund for it.  It's never a bad thing to have cash stashed away right? 

You have a negative balance in your budget. 
There's two ways and only two ways to solve this issue. You either have to boost your income by picking up a side gig or working overtime at your full time job, or you're going to have to cut back on your expenses.  To do that, you need to take a long hard look at each category and exactly what the money in that category has been spent on.  Here are 36 ways to cut your spending.  You need to reduce your expenses or boost your income so that the amount leftover each month after your expenses come out of your income is a positive number.   

I know what you're thinking now... NO WAY! You do not want to cut any more expenses than you already have.  And that's fine if you don't want to but you can't expect anything to change with your financial situation.  You have to make the changes now and stick it out so that in the future when you're debt free with a healthy savings fund and using a workable budget, you can enjoy life!

You are trying to pay off debt and build a savings at the same time.  
So you probably have a savings category and a debt category in your budget.  And with the leftover money each month, you're supposed to put it towards one of the 2.  But what if you're trying to do both.   I've blogged before about how to build up a savings fund and pay off debt and really it comes down to you taking action to balance the two.  

First, I highly recommend if you don't already have an emergency savings fund you make one.  And don't worry about paying off debt and putting money in your regular savings fund until your emergency fund is built up.  It can cover you in any kind of emergency so you aren't using your credit cards or using money from another budget category. 

Also, You can split the extra income you have left over in your budget each month, putting half into savings and half into debt. You also need to STOP using credit cards ASAP.  You should have a budget category for all the necessary expenses so that you are putting money aside rather than borrowing money for those expenses.  

Psst...if you're looking for hardcore help and want to get your finances in order NOW, make sure you check out my course and my book. 

 Enroll in my Fixing Your Finances e-course for the sale price and you'll learn everything you need to in order to reduce your debt and become debt free, build up a savings fund, stop using or safely use credit cards, and live on a balanced budget where you can actually control your spending.  I promise my course WILL help you.  You can also check out my book, Fixing Your Finances on Amazon. 

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