• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
Cult Of Money

Cult Of Money

Personal finance for the crypto-curious.

  • About
  • Podcast
  • Contact
  • Cryptocurrency
      • How To Start

      • What Is Cryptocurrency And How To Invest?
      • What Is Bitcoin And How Does It Work?
      • What Is Ethereum And How Does It Work?
      • Most Common Crypto And NFT Scams (And How To Avoid Them)
      • Proof Of Work vs. Proof Of Stake vs. Proof Of History
      • How To Invest In Crypto In Your IRA Or 401k
      • Tools + Resources

      • Best Cryptocurrency Exchanges
      • Best Cryptocurrency Wallets
      • Best Crypto Savings Accounts
      • Best Tax Software For Crypto And NFT Traders
      • Reviews

      • Coinbase Review
      • Gemini Review
      • BlockFi Review
      • Binance Review
      • Hodlnaut Review
      • Ledger Wallet Review
  • DeFi
      • How To Start

      • What Is DeFi?
      • What Is Staking Your Crypto?
      • Centralized vs. Decentralized Exchange
      • Tools + Resources

      • What Is Uniswap And How Do Decentralized Exchanges Work?
      • Reviews

  • NFT
      • How To Start

      • What Is An NFT?
      • Tools + Resources

      • Most Popular Play-To-Earn Crypto Games
      • Popular Projects

      • What Are VeeFriends And Are They Worth It?
      • Bored Ape Yacht Club NFTs Are Popular (And Expensive)
      • What Is The Sandbox And How Can You Play?
      • Why Visa Bought A CryptoPunk
  • Investing
      • How To Start

      • Tools + Accounts

      • Reviews

  • Personal Finance
      • Banking

      • Best Bitcoin Rewards Checking Accounts
      • Tools + Resources

      • Tax

      • Income Tax Prep Guide
      • Bookkeeping And Accounting For Crypto And NFTs
Personal Finance

How to Revamp Your Budget This Year

By Alexa Mason • December 31, 2013

At The Cult of Money, we want to help you navigate your finances. To do this, many or all of the products featured here may be from our partners whom we receive compensation from. This doesn’t influence our evaluations or reviews. Our opinions are our own. Learn more here.Advertiser Disclosure

There are thousands of financial products and services out there, and we believe in helping you understand which is best for you, how it works, and will it actually help you achieve your financial goals. We're proud of our content and guidance, and the information we provide is objective, independent, and free.

But we do have to make money to pay our team and keep this website running! Our partners compensate us. CultOfMoney.com has an advertising relationship with some or all of the offers included on this page, which may impact how, where, and in what order products and services may appear. The Cult of Money does not include all companies or offers available in the marketplace. And our partners can never pay us to guarantee favorable reviews (or even pay for a review of their product to begin with).

For more information and a complete list of our advertising partners, please check out our full Advertising Disclosure. CultOfMoney.com strives to keep its information accurate and up to date. The information in our reviews could be different from what you find when visiting a financial institution, service provider or a specific product's website. All products and services are presented without warranty.

Share
Tweet
Pin
Share
Email

revamp budgetHappy New Year!

If you’re anything like me you’ve been looking over your budget and making plans to have an awesome year financially.

Since several of my goals for the year are personal finance related I figure now is the perfect time to revamp my budget and see what needs changed.

Here are the steps I’ve taken to breathe new life into an old budget.

 

Find a Good Budget Template

I’ve always preferred paper and pen for almost everything I do. Budgets, to-do lists, grocery lists – I always use paper and pen. So, this year I decided I’d give budget spreadsheets a fighting chance.

One of the problems I have with keeping my budget on paper is that often it gets sloppy. I have to cross things off my budget or scribble and rewrite them. With a spreadsheet I can simply enter in my numbers and they’ll be automatically calculated. Plus changing numbers is super simple.

I chose a budget template from excel and it works great. It’s a monthly budget with a projected column and an actual column. I went ahead and filled in the projected column for the month of January.

If you don’t like the templates that come with excel there are dozens of free templates out there. And, if you’d rather have a program do the legwork for you, you can sign up with a free service like Personal Capital that pulls information from your bank and credit card accounts.

 

Review Your Expenses

Upon reviewing my expenses I didn’t find a bunch of items that I could lower. What I did realize, however, is that I have a couple credit cards with balances that need paid off.

Apparently I used the credit card linked to my Amazon account while Christmas shopping more than I had realized. I went ahead and plugged the full balances into my projected budget for January with full intentions of paying them off.

I set realistic balances for every other budget item, but I’m hoping that I can beat them for the month of January.

Some budget categories you may want to look into lowering are TV, food, miscellaneous spending, etc. Everyone’s budget looks different so you might find you need to lower expenses in different categories.

 

Make a Plan

With my budget I am simply going month by month. If I can successfully pay off my credit card balances this month then I can start saving my extra cash for saving goals beginning February.

So this month will be full of sacrifice and very low expense living. By wiping out the bit of credit card debt I’ve accumulated I’ll be able to focus on the important goals the rest of the year.

Your budget plan might be different. If you need to pay off debt make a spot in your budget where you can allocate extra money toward your goal. If you are saving for an emergency fund, down payment on a home, or investing account do the same. Keep your goals in mind each month as you review your budget.

Another option you have to meet your financial goals after budgeting for all normal household costs is to save percentages. This works great if you want to simultaneously save for different financial goals. For example, if you want to start investing in the stock market, save for a new car, and purchase a rental property all in one year you can.

Just break down your goals in order of importance and urgency and put a percentage by them. You could save 20 percent of your extra income for stock market investing, 30 percent for buying a new car, and another 50 percent for a rental property. This way you can make progress on all of your goals.

 

Go Back to Your Budget Often

I always stay motivated to stick to my budget when I review it often. I would suggest visiting it at least once a week to make sure you are staying on target.

Then as your needs and expenses change make those changes to your budget each and every month. It’s very unlikely that your expenses won’t change from month to month.

For example, if you have debt and pay off one bill you need to reallocate that money. If you lower your grocery budget you need to put those savings somewhere else.

 

Stay On Top of It

Not everyone needs a written budget. There are some people who are disciplined enough to stay on budget without trying too hard. However, if you’re like me and aren’t naturally a frugal person it’s better to be safe than sorry.

Having a working budget can help you achieve your financial goals this year and for years to come. The more you practice budgeting the better you will get and the bigger rewards you’ll receive.

Alexa Mason
Alexa Mason

Alexa Mason is a freelance writer and wanna be internet entrepreneur. She is also a newly single mom to two beautiful little girls. She chronicles her journey as a single mom trying to make it big at www.singlemomsincome.com.

Editorial Disclaimer: Opinions expressed here are author’s alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, airlines or hotel chain, or other advertiser and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities.

Comment Policy: We invite readers to respond with questions or comments. Comments may be held for moderation and are subject to approval. Comments are solely the opinions of their authors’. The responses in the comments below are not provided or commissioned by any advertiser. Responses have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any company. It is not anyone’s responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.

Subscribe
Login
Notify of

0 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments

Primary Sidebar

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Editor’s Picks

  • 8 best cryptocurrency exchanges ranked

    8 Best Cryptocurrency Exchanges Ranked For 2023

  • crypto savings accounts

    6 Best Crypto Savings Accounts For 2023

  • Cryptocurrency Bonus Offers

    10 Best Crypto Promotional And Bonus Offers

  • best crypto wallets

    Best Crypto Wallets For 2023 (Software And Hardware Options)

  • Best Portfolio Trackers For Cryptocurrency And Stocks

    6 Best Portfolio Trackers For Cryptocurrency And Stocks

  • best tax software for crypto and NFT traders

    Best Tax Software For Crypto And NFT Traders In 2023

Popular Posts

  • proof of work vs. proof of stake vs. proof of history

    Proof Of Work vs. Proof Of Stake vs. Proof Of History

  • Why I Bought An NFT

    Why I Bought An NFT [And 5 Reasons You Should Too]

  • My Dogecoin Experiment: What I Learned From Investing $2,000 In DOGE

  • common crypto and nft scams

    Most Common Crypto And NFT Scams (And How To Avoid Them)

  • Bookkeeping and Accounting for Crypto and NFTs

    Bookkeeping And Accounting For Crypto And NFTs

  • what is a 51% attack

    What Is A 51% Attack? (And How Is That Game Over For Crypto?)

  • what is staking crypto

    What Is Staking And How Can You Make Money With Your Crypto?

  • what are veefriends

    What Are VeeFriends And Are They Worth It?

  • how to file a complaint against crypto exchanges

    How To File A Complaint Against A Crypto Exchange [Crypto Regulators]

Footer

Pages

  • Best Cryptocurrency Wallets
  • Best Cryptocurrency Exchanges

Categories

  • Cryptocurrency
  • DeFi
  • NFT
  • Personal Finance

About

  • About The Cult Of Money
  • Contact
  • How We Make Money
  • Advertise With Us
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter

Copyright © 2023 | Cult of Money | Privacy Policy | Terms of Service

wpDiscuz