Financial freedom...The art of budgeting..... Naomi Gathirua.

Well, being young and being extremely spend thrift can be thrilling, when it occurs, though there comes a time in the month when we realise that money management might not be such a horrible idea to acclimatize to. [A budget is basically a written plan on how one will spend their funds], thus helping you to spend it wisely. No matter what your level of income is, creating a realistic budget and trying to stick to is the most significant step to financial planning. After all we do have to think about rainy days and those are plenty. But having that money available means being able to solidify ways in which you can plan ahead for your expenses and the events that are inescapable can still be handled.

For many of us, budgeting means fiscal restraint and not being able to purchase the things we think we essentially need. Though a good budget plan, allows us as consumers to meet our needs and desires, while still trying to save money and plan for the future.

Incidentally, [the first step to financial freedom,] is to write down every expense imaginable you may incur for the week- should it be that latte every other day, the ever so scrumptious lunch, the takeaway dinner or even drinks, impulse purchases as well as entertainment, then adding it all up at the end of the month, which then leads to cutting back to many unnecessary expenses. Surprisingly, one should be able to notice how much money can escape from one’s purse or wallet unnoticed. This is a very simple exercise in fiscal discipline but it is indeed the first step of learning how to create a budget plan to define the art of financial planning.

Once your baseline weekly spending is established, by tracking your daily living expenses, add in your recurring bills like the rent be it the mortgage, phone bill, electricity bill, gym payments etc. That will be your estimated monthly expenditure. One can track your expenses and bills for a few months to come up with an average, which goes extremely far, when one needs to plan their income.

These are just a few ideas that you can use to start living a more frugal life, and to successfully manage your budget. Learning how to manage your budget while young will take one a further mile when it comes to dealing with ones’ income in the future. The decisions you make early on will affect you later life. So to conclude this, I would say, learn early how to use your time and money wisely.