Purpose of a Budget and 10 Tips for Budgeting Purposefully

If you want to know the purpose of a budget, this article will come very handy.

It reveals a lot more about budgeting that will really help you, as well as the main purpose of a budget.

 

What’s Purpose of a Budget Got to do With Flying?

The aviation business and industry is serious business in addition to being extremely regulated, there are several steps involved before a flight before the aircraft takes flight.

In addition to the strict maintenance logs that must be maintained, there are preflight activities that take place.

A pilot is required by FAA to adhere to the following of a written checklist.

There is a checklist prior to the aircraft taking flight and then there is a checklist before the aircraft landing.

Some of the items to check before takeoff include observing instruments and radios, the directional Gyro, flaps, landing gear position lights, etc. prior to landing, the checklist contains such items as the positioning of the landing gear, revolutions per minute of the propeller, fuel gauge, etc.

In addition, pilots are required to do a visual check of their ship before departure.

Items that are checked during this visual walk around include inspection of the landing gear with specific attention given to any possible leaks, a general fuselage inspection, and inspection of the sensors to name a few.

Also, another critical component of flying safely from the departing destination to the arrival destination is the filing of a flight plan. This flight plan is paramount and filed by both non-commercial pilots and commercial flights.

The flight plan is reviewed by air traffic controllers and can be approved or altered. Variables for ulceration include other flight traffic or weather conditions.

The importance of the flight plan is also realized so that if something does occur and the flight is interrupted, authorities can know what direction the flight was going to take and respond accordingly.

Taking a safety page from aeronautics, we as individuals should file a flight plan.

We should endeavor to formulate goals as to where we are and where we are headed and the various milestones that we anticipate.

Another important part of our career and financial planning is a budget.

This integral part of our “flight plan” is a visual and written check-off list to ensure that our departure from point A to our destination of point B that destination being the achievement of our financial goals, meeting our retirement plans, and anticipating headwinds during our flight.

 

The B Words

I was never one with being credited as having good business sense.

Budgets were always for somebody else, and my carefree attitude was spending it while you got it and let tomorrow take care of itself.

However, following my career in the U.S. Navy I had an epiphany in regards to finances as I moved into a more business-oriented profession.

As part of the training for this profession, we were introduced to accounting. Of course, to me, it was a foreign land and a foreign language.

The basic accounting taught was about income and expense, profit and loss, assets, and liabilities, and creating a budget, etc.

This opportunity to rewire my financial brain was eventually welcomed by me as not only did it affect my newfound career, but spilled over into my personal financial life.

I will never forget what an individual once told me about handling finances.

In regards to managing the finances, he succinctly said to me two B words. Those B words were budget and bank.

He said to me, “When it comes to finances, it is important to remember when spending ask yourself these two questions.

Is it in the budget and is it in the bank?”

 

Purpose of a Budget and 10 Tips for Budgeting Purposefully

 

1: Control

Have you ever experienced the unenviable financial position of living from paycheck to paycheck?

Or perhaps, a bill is coming close to being due and the amount in your checking account is less than what the actual bill totals up to be?

Or perhaps, your pantry is bare and there are still a few more meals that need to be prepared for the family but the provisions are low.

Then, one of the important purposes of preparing and adhering to a budget is to control these negative financial occurrences.

By having a budget and setting aside a strict amount to spend on each line item on the expense side of the ledger, the discipline process of keeping within your budget will help you to survive these difficult times and decrease your anxiety.

Related: Best Budget Planners, Books, Organisers and Apps.

 

2: Realize Goals

It is probably safe to assume that we all have dreams and goals that we wish to attain in life.

Some of these possibilities may swirl around the need for finances to be available to make them into a reality.

For example, if you want to go back to school, certain amounts of money may be urgently needed to supplement any loans that you receive to buy books and other essential supplies.

Or, if you’re planning on that dream vacation and don’t want to come back to several credit card statements, saving for that dream vacation is an admirable goal.

Therefore, a well-thought-out budget is a critical ongoing step to be taken to make sure that you don’t go over budget in certain areas and that a budget line item is set up to attain those dreams and goals.

 

3: Lessen Stress

As alluded to earlier, when the money runs out because of overspending or not anticipating certain things that can occur in life, it can cause a great deal of stress in life.

Stress is a vicious cycle, not only does it affect us physically, but when affected physically we may be subject to stress-related illnesses.

Related: Less Stressful Jobs to do after Retirement.

Some of those stress-related illnesses could include headaches, lack of sleep, and stress on our heart or if continued to be left unchecked, may result in more serious conditions such as a stroke.

Or a heart attack.

Therefore, the cycle begins. First, we experience stress when spending is uncontrolled. Then stress affects us physically.

When affected physically, our health may deteriorate causing additional stress and expenses for doctor’s bills. This then creates stress and the vicious cycle spins.

 

4: Digging Out of Debt

Another positive and purposeful demonstration of creating and adhering to a budget is to dig oneself out of debt.

If a person finds themselves in debt, a budget is a perfect tool for taking what limited money is coming into the household and spreading it over the expense side of the spreadsheet.

Consequently, not only will the debt hole start to be plugged, but the individual will be able to dig out of the indebtedness hole that they have created by being in debt.

Also, if an individual is not in debt, a good purpose of a budget is to make sure that that wonderful reality continues.

Related: How to Easily Get Out of Debt.

 

5: Saving Relationships

I’m certainly not an authority on marriage, but it is my understanding that there are two major causes of difficulties in a marital relationship or other partnerships.

The first difficulty in the partnership arises when there is a failure to communicate with each other.

The other major factor that contributes to dysfunctional relationships is each of the entities ‘ views of money and how it should be handled.

Therefore, to prevent or if, amid a relationship difficulty, it would be wise to sit down together and work out a budget.

That way, if there is any argument on how the money should be expended or how it should be utilized, the agreed-upon pact between the two individuals is to adhere strictly to the budget and not deviate.

Therefore, if it’s not in the budget it doesn’t happen.

Related: Tips to Help Stop Money Fights in Marriages.

 

 

6: Setting Priorities

The budget is a wonderful financial tool for determining and setting priorities with the money that comes in from the household.

It is recommended then, on the expense side of the ledger, that you prioritize all of the expenses associated with the household.

Heading the list would be paying yourself first. It is highly recommended that this is the first amount of money expended when money comes into the household.

That money that is expended should be a certain percentage of the total revenue and can range anywhere from 10 to 20%.

Prioritize yourself and pay yourself first.

Also See: How to Save Money from Salary and How to Drastically Cut Expenses.

Other priorities that would follow would include keeping a roof over your head.

Therefore, list the various expenses associated with maintaining your home such as a rent or mortgage payment, utilities, insurance, etc.

The next priority would be food. And so forth

Probably the least prioritized item would be in the area of entertainment or eating out.

Consequently, if additional monies need to be freed up these would be the two-line items or priority items that could be drawn from to balance the monthly budget.

Also See: 30 Day Rule… for saving money!

 

7: Where Does the Money Go?

Another wonderful purpose of a budget is to determine the age-old question, where does all that money go?

Often, from our checking account through debit card purchases or cash that we carry around, we are at a loss to remember where that $20 or $50 or even $100 may have gone that we have no idea of its whereabouts.

By keeping a budget and itemizing each thing that is purchased throughout the month, a clear picture will be revealed as to where those extra dollars end up going.

They could be left at the local gourmet coffee shop, the convenience store, those streaming services that are duplicated, etc.

The budget will be a great revealer.

Also See: Jobs That Pay 50 an Hour, Jobs that Pay $25 an Hour, Jobs that Pay $30 an Hour & 20 Dollar an Hour Jobs.

 

8: Discipline

We all need accountability in our life. In other words, we need someone that will keep us on the straight and narrow and not deviate from what we know needs to happen.

A budget will provide that accountability.

In fact, after setting up your budget, another column that should be alongside your expense budget column should be the actual amounts that are spent.

This is truly the definition of an income and expense sheet where the budget is set up and then you have the comparison of actual figures that were spent in offsetting the amount of the budgeted item.

If there is a negative variance, then adjustments need to be made. However, you cannot spend more than you have.

Therefore, you must take from another expenditure line item and adjust accordingly or add additional income to your household.

If the variance is positive that is a good thing, and it is highly recommended that the amount be set aside in your savings.

 

9: Pay Yourself First

As indicated previously, a most critical purpose of a budget is to remind yourself that you must be paid.

There must be a set amount of the monthly income that is set aside as a payment to you. Again, the percentage may vary, and it is what the income will bear.

However, this is an important discipline and the first payment made from the household budget must be to yourself.

Having a budget will provide this reminder and bring purpose to the importance of saving for your future.

Also See: Make Money Welding, Make Money Knitting & Make Money Fishing.

 

10: Avoid Financial Tailspins

The worst thing that can happen in the aviation industry is for a plane to plummet to earth out of control.

This can be known as a tailspin, and it indicates the loss or lack of control in the cockpit and therefore the natural tendency of gravity is to pull down to earth.

Perhaps, your budget and your finances are in a tailspin. However, it is never too late to pull out of that tailspin.

This can be accomplished by devising a realistic budget and being disciplined to follow it.

 

Conclusion

A budget is fairly easy to devise.

It is simply a matter of listing income reflecting all of the streams of revenue and on the expense side of the ledger listing all of the expenditures that go out of the household.

When all the figures have been inputted and added up, the income side of the ledger should be greater or at least equal to the expense side of the ledger.

If it is not, then something needs to be reduced or eliminated on the expense side.

Isn’t it time to get back to basics and devise your very own budget that will help and serve you?

Remember the two B’s. If it’s not in the bank and not in the budget, you can’t spend it.