There is a very fine line between being a good budgeter and just a straight out tight arse. I like to think of myself as the former, although I have to reluctantly admit that I can occasionally (and regrettably) slip into the habits of the latter, if not careful.
Discovering my love of travel from such an early age, I have spent the majority of my teen and adult life saving to fund all of my amazing overseas adventures. This is what has led me to what feels like a lifetime of budgeting, and as life would have it, my strict budgeting skills were born.
I feel as though there’s a bit of a craft to being a successful budgeter. Firstly, you must be ridiculously organised. Secondly, you can’t be afraid of putting together a quality list. And lastly, it really helps if you are an Excel spreadsheet enthusiast.
Luckily I was born with all three traits, so if I can teach you one thing and one thing only, it’s the important lesson of creating and sticking to a realistic budget.
As this move to London seems to have crept up on me a bit, I’ve started saving a little later than originally planned (OK – a LOT later, only one fortnight ago to be exact). That’s OK, it just means that over the next three months I’ll have to monitor and note down every single dollar that leaves my pocket. I also have to make as much extra money where possible, so ebay, the local second hand market and I are all becoming very good friends.
As important as it is to plan ahead, you can’t always foresee every single expense coming your way. Yesterday, with only a measly $70 left in my budget until next payday, I had to fork out $89 on a new charger for my MacBook as mine had sadly died. Life is full of unpredictable and often unavoidable situations, so don’t get discouraged if you can’t always meet your targets. The longer you keep trying, the better you’ll get.
Over the next few days I will be perfecting my budget plans and sharing them with you, so stay tuned.
Until then, wish me luck!
The London New Girl
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