Millennial’s Need to Budget — Heres How

Do you find yourself having more month at the end of your money? If you’re like most Millennials, you probably do. Even if you find a way to start earning extra dough, you can’t seem to hold onto all of it till the 1st. If these problems sound familiar, you need a budget.

I was in the same boat.

Every month I was spending more, making it seem like I was earning less than I actually was. The spending kept going up each month even though I was earning a bit more. All of that changed. Today, I have paid-off over $100k in debt, learned to save and invest, and nearly tripled my income. To learn about how I did that, check out my video above. I’m Nick Morrow — Millennial Survivalist and I will show you how to create and stick to a budget.

Create a Budget to Pay Yourself First

Start with Income

It’s all about you. When I realized this, everything changed. Start off creating a budget with your income. Start with the amount of money you make per month and put it in column 1 for income. If you have variable income, use a lower average for it. The average American Income is $35k a year or $3000 a month.

Separate Important from Non-Important Expenses

Do your expenses next and put them in the second column. Learn to pay yourself by saving money off the record. Make sure you pay off any “Bad debt” credit card, car and student loans first. Most Millennials have around $8000 in credit card debt with a minimum payment of $300 a month and student loan payments of $280 a month. Pay these off first and defer other unimportant expenses.

Then there are the fixed expenses that need to be included in your budget. Avergae monthly amounts would be:

Housing/Rent: $1000

Utilities and Phone Expenses: $250

Transport: $400

Food: $350

Clothing and Entertainment: $300

Dining Out: $50

If you do not have any credit card, car or student loans, your get a gold star! Now have an extra $600 per month to put in savings or use in lucrative investments. I will be writing another blog to teach how I paid off over $100k in debt. Subscribe to my newsletter to get notified when I post it!

Keep Track of Your Budget

The difficult part is done. You have made your budget. Now you just have to follow through. You could put cash in envelopes to separate each amount of payments. But unless you’re over 90 years or under 9 years of age, you should not be using envelopes full of cash to pay your bills

Setup Auto Pay

Stop worrying about your expenses payment for utilities, car, phone, rent, debt and savings. Just have them paid automatically.

Budget Tracking Apps Help

Use your debit card in conjunction with a budget tracking app like Mint to cover your variable expenses. Mint links you to your bank account so that it tracks your expenses and shows you your current budget every time you use your debit card.

Stick to the Mint App budget and don’t exceed it. $50 means $50; don’t even think about spending a cent more on eating out.

Remember, it’s all about discipline. “Your Life doesn’t get better by chance, it gets better by change.” It may not feel good when you start budgeting, but facts don’t care about your feelings. In order for you to move forward financially, you need to learn how to manage what you have.

Hope you found this blog helpful. If you are looking for one-on-one coaching, please visit my website. Don’t forget to like me on Facebook and Instagram @therealnickmorrow and on snapchat @nickmorrow4real

Orignially posted on my blog at www.therealnickmorrow.com