So Many Shoes, So Little Money – Blog

Living Within your Means

December 8th, 2008

I haven’t yet discussed living within your means. Living within your means is much more important than the amount of money you have. Whoever you are, no matter how much money you make, more than likely, you’ll never have quite enough. Why? Because as your income goes up, so do your expenses. We all want more than we can afford. With more money, your tastes upgrade – it’s inevitable and normal. You’ll want Manolo Blahnik not Designer Shoe Warehouse, you’ll want Champaign not Two Buck Chuck, and you’ll want a bigger place to live rather than a smaller one.

How do you know what your means are? You make a budget. Budgets sound harder to make than they really are. First, add up and total the money you bring in, then add up and total the money you spend. Subtract the money you spend from the money you bring in:

• Money I bring in
• Less money I spend
• Equals money I have left over – or don’t have left over.

The beauty of budgeting is it tells you what your means are – and they’re different for everyone. It helps you plan what you can and, quite frankly, what you can’t do.

If you don’t know what you spend keep your receipts and bills – all of them for one month. Even your receipts for your morning coffee. Then add them all up. The total won’t be perfect reflection of what you spend every month but it’s a great start.

Filed under: Budgeting

Tags: Budgeting