Budgeting - the basic steps

I dont make enough money to be on a budget.

Thats a common statement we hear from people with very low incomes who contact Christian Financial Concepts for help.

The belief that a person doesnt have enough money to be on a budget indicates the person does not understand the concept of budgeting. Everyone, especially every Christian, should operate with a budget in order to be the best steward for God that she or he can be.

Beware of an attitude that results in the more-money-in, more-money-out syndrome. Many people who think they dont make enough money to be on a budget believe that making more money will solve their financial problems. However, without a control (budget), the more money you take in, the more money will go out.

Anyone with any amount of income can create a simple budget that works. And people on low incomes are probably in the greatest need of a budget because of their very limited resources.

How do you start?

• Begin a simple form of budget by dividing your income among predetermined priorities.
  
  
• Then, create a register or schedule for each priority (account).
  
  
• Next, divide your earnings among your priority accounts and enter each amount as a deposit in that account.
  
  
• Finally, when you take money from that account, enter the transaction as a withdrawal from that account.

This simple form of budget can work even for those who are very young and have little income or perhaps have only the allowance given by their parents.

If you are a teen or preteen, dont get uptight about your budget when you are getting started. Right now you probably dont have much income or many expenditures. Dont worry, you wont go hungry, naked, or homeless if you should mess up your budget. Make a real effort to stick with your budget as best you can.

Ask for help from your parents if it gets too confusing. Or, call Christian Financial Concepts for help. If youre a young person, in a few years the money management skills you learn now will help pay for educational expenses, keep food in the fridge, clothes on your back, and a roof over your head.

If you will learn to manage your budget now, on a limited income, then managing your budget in the future will be much easier. Whether you make a little or a lot, living within your means on a budget can keep you on the path to being financially free.

Instruct them to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is life indeed (1 Timothy 6:18-19).

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