{"id":22,"date":"2020-09-28T17:09:51","date_gmt":"2020-09-28T17:09:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/equitable.in\/blog\/?p=22"},"modified":"2020-09-28T17:29:05","modified_gmt":"2020-09-28T17:29:05","slug":"save-more-with-zero-sum-budgeting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/equitable.in\/blog\/save-more-with-zero-sum-budgeting\/","title":{"rendered":"Save more with zero-sum budgeting"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Do you go through the year constantly trying to save as much of your income as possible, only to fail because your spending is out of control?
I\u2019m ever the optimist, and I often overestimate how much I will manage to save in a month.
Instead of cutting back to meet my goals, I move cash from my savings accounts to fund the lifestyle I\u2019m used to. It\u2019s a vicious cycle that results in me having too little in my savings.
But how do you break the cycle?
Traditional saving methods tend to follow the same mantra as famed business magnate Warren Buffet who advises; \u2018Do not save what is left after spending; instead spend what is left after saving\u2019
But this traditional method has a fresh new name, zero-sum budgeting.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

What is the zero-sum budget?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

It is \u2018where you allot every penny of income, essentially leaving you with zero money in hand at the end of the month.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s as simple as that, but before you can reap the benefits of this brilliant budgeting style, there\u2019s some ground work to be done\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Know your income<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

This method isn\u2019t right for everyone, perhaps you work differing hours or are self \u2013 employed and don\u2019t have an exact salary. Whatever the reason, if you don\u2019t have an income which remains a constant this isn\u2019t the savings strategy for you. For it to work you need to have an income which is the same month in, month out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Map out your essential outgoings<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Take the time to really analyse your essential outgoings to get a good picture of how much of your pay packet has to go on the absolute musts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s not how much you spend on clothes or trips to the cinema, I\u2019m talking bills, rent, money for food and commuting. Everything you simply must pay for each month. Total these all up and make a note of the monthly cost.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Map out your non-essential outgoings<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

So, you\u2019ve figured out everything you have to pay for each month, now you need to figure out how much you spend each month on non-essential outgoings. But how?

Most of us have access to our bank statements online, so have a look and put your non-essential spends in to categories such as \u2018entertainment\u2019, \u2018clothing\u2019 and \u2018eating out\u2019.

This can be a really eye-opening exercise and make you realise just how much of your hard-earned cash goes on buying things that aren\u2019t really necessary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cut your costs and take control!<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

So, you now have a pretty good view of your spending habits. Don\u2019t worry if you don\u2019t like what you see, or if it\u2019s a big shock. You\u2019re going to take control.

Go through your spending and try to cut it down by assigning yourself a budget for each category, for example if you spend Rs 5000 on eating out, give yourself a Rs 2000 budget instead.

Go through each category and cut your costs, but remember to be realistic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Give all your cash a job to do<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Now that you know all of your spending categories and you\u2019ve assigned them all a figure, it\u2019s time to give your \u2018left over cash\u2019 a job to do too. This is the essence of zero-sum budgeting.

Having money sitting there without a purpose leads to spending on stuff you simply don\u2019t need and this is where zero-budgeting can make a big difference.

So, give that money a job, Once you determine your own excess cash flow, you can decide where that money will serve you best. For instance, if you\u2019re still in debt, you can decide to pay X number of additional dollars toward those debts.

Give your money a purpose, whether it\u2019s upping your savings, or paying off debt, or both, and make the money you work hard for work for you too. You deserve that much. A great tip is to set-up direct debits to pay off your debt or to up savings, that way you don\u2019t miss the cash, or be tempted to squander it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stick to it<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Now you need to live within the budget you\u2019ve set yourself, and stick to it. It\u2019s easier than you may think.

So why not try spending all of your money? It could be the key to upping your savings and becoming a new, financially focused you.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Do you go through the year constantly trying to save as much of your income as possible, only to fail because your spending is out of control?I\u2019m ever the optimist,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":23,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/equitable.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/equitable.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/equitable.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/equitable.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/equitable.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/equitable.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24,"href":"https:\/\/equitable.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22\/revisions\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/equitable.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/equitable.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/equitable.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/equitable.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}