You’ve got a budget! Congrats! But now it’s not going to plan. There are many reasons your budget is going haywire, so here’s a few along with what you can do about it.

1. You’re a budgeting newbie

If you’re new to budgeting and have your goals at the forefront of your mind it can feel like you’re not making any headway, therefore making the process feel pointless.

It also takes a little while to adjust to the budgeting lifestyle. So whether you’re learning the art of tracking your actuals or struggling with the idea of throwing your hard earned money towards your debt, we promise it will all be worth it if you stick to it.

2. You’re expenses are higher than your income

If your excess (the money left over after you’ve taken away your expenses from your income) is a negative number, then you’re spending more money than you make.

There are two options when this happens:

Make more money

There has never been more opportunities to make more money than there is now. Boosting your income is a great way to boost the excess part of your budget. Check out our blog on 100 ways to make more money!

Reduce your expenses

Whether it be reducing your utility bills as much as possible or ditching impulse spending, there are plenty of ways you can reduce your expenses. Check out The Money MOT in the learn section to perform a full review of your outgoings.

This can be difficult to face up to, but learning to live within your means will set you up mentally and financially for the future.

3. You aren’t sticking to it

We get it. Creating a budget and sticking to it are two completely different things! It takes determination and discipline to stick to your plan but it helps to remind yourself of the outcome. Creating some money goals gives you a ‘why’ and hopefully helps you feel more willing to stick to your budget.

4. You didn’t leave any room for fun

When you hear the word budgeting, you automatically think strict, stingy and living below your means. But we’re here to change that! We always say that a budget is permission to spend, it helps you choose what you want to do with your money and puts you into control.

Creating a fun money sinking fund is a great way to provide yourself with the permission to have fun with your money.

5. You’re not tailoring your budget to you

No month is the same. Perhaps your June is full of birthdays which means your outgoings will be pretty high but your July is a quiet month which means you can put more towards your savings.

Every time you sit down to do your budget, take a look at your plans for the month and adjust your budget accordingly.

6. You’re excluding some expenses

If you aren’t including every expense in your budget, it can feel like your budget is broken by the time it comes to the end of the month.

The best way to tackle this is to go through last month’s expenses and ensure all are added into your budget.

7. You don’t have an emergency fund

Ever feel like you’re in your budgeting flow, it’s all going to plan and then you’re hit with an unexpected expense. An emergency fund helps you prepare for the unknown and ensures you stay in control when something out of your control pops up.

If you don’t have an emergency fund, prioritise building one over anything else right now to ensure your future self can make progress without being impacted by emergencies.

Create your budget now in the Financielle app.