That monthly bill grind

Tangling with the month-to-month monster is about as much fun as hugging a porcupine.

There are ways to manage the month-to-month grind, and to even get out of it. One of the most interesting (and after I sat down and thought about it myself, obvious) ways was something I came across while I subscribed to the YNAB (You Need a Budget)10-day course.

Live on last month’s income.

The founders of YNAB were married college students, struggling to make it from month to month, just like us and many of you out there. They say,

“When my wife and I first married (it’s been a few years now), we worked part-time at the university where we were attending school full-time. Part-time work on a university campus equals, well, not a lot. I wasn’t TOO worried about things, but the fact that our finances would be tight did inspire me to construct a spreadsheet to help us track our spending. Eventually I built it so it would also track our income.

The income was where the problems started arising though. Julie would work anywhere from 15-22 hours per week, depending on exams and homework. I would do my best to get between 18 and 24, but again, that could changed based on other uncontrollable factors. We were living on a variable income.”

Sound familiar? Not knowing exactly how much your next paycheck is worth makes it near impossible to budget accurately, unless you can see the future.

Of course, the answer is to live on the money you made last month. This allows you to save more, set up a fixed budget, and have adequate time to monitor your finances and prepare for upcoming things. Things get more complicated when you rely on payday loans to meet monthly needs in emergencies,

But, I don’t have last month’s money – I already spent all of it!

Now, the YNAB guys were recently married and withdrew wedding money to get them through a month. While using their wedding money, they saved every penny they made, and then when the next month began, they were ready.

I didn’t happen onto this gem of financial knowledge until we’d been married for a while, so we decided to save all of our ‘unplanned’ income (money we were, ironically, planning on getting, but wasn’t directly from work so we didn’t include it in our budget) until we had one month’s expenses, and then work from there. So far we’re halfway there, and adding more every time. Tax returns, birthday presents, and money from side jobs and hobbies is a great way to get started saving one month’s expenses. They even offer 18 money saving tips to get your fund started.

So are you one of those people who is always spending money they havent even earned yet? Using payday loans online more than once or twice just for genuine emergencies? Start planning better, live off the money you have already earned and find ways to put more of it aside for the future. You will be less stressed – guaranteed!