If I have to invest, I need to save money. But, given the luxuries and plethora of shopping options, I indulge myself from time to time into this stress relieving shopping. Although I had bought a house on loan, I had no intention to prepay it earlier as I didn’t not have any savings to rely on. Maintenance, property tax, home loan EMI and my kid’s schooling fees was enough to eat away all my one source of income. Not to mention the Zomato expenses and shopping that heaped my credit expenses. After coming back to India, my salary was not meeting my expenses. I needed more money and this time I wanted to start my second innings with more wisdom. To start with I want be on top of my expenses. So, I went to a chai shop, relaxed and pulled up an excel. I was ready to face my bills and my worst nightmare. I started adding my salary, all my expenses including credit card, loan, food expenses, shopping expenses and travel expenses and created a chart to see where is my money going. Besides my home loan, it was my bad food habits. Zomato has made everyone a Jughead who can just wait at the doorstep and voila the food has arrived. It was high time that I need to rely on my home food. Moreover, my doctor’s voice kept on echoing make some home made food to lose weight! Well, this is indeed the most healthy option not only for your body but also for your finance. I even looked at the grocery items and looked for places where it is cheaper to buy in bulk in the beginning of the week. Best plan to reduce your expenses. Try it out for a month and see if it works. Next, I decided to allocate a budget within a month for my shopping, food and other expenses that I have control on so that I don’t go beyond the limit.
So, create an excel with the top header highlighting your salary and add the structure below including all your expenses and see what you are left with. See, which expenses can you control or completely do away with. Perhaps, you forgot about a subscription that you had availed long ago. Analyze the data for atleast past 2-3 months and look at your expenses pattern. Also, see how much budget do you need for each area. Let me know your views once you do this task. It could be enlightening for you:) Stop splurging and start living:)
Income vs Expenses
- Loan
- Debt
- Food Expenses
- Shopping Expenses
- Travel Expenses
Money in Abundanz 