Welcome to part two of budgeting like a boss! Last week our MNB finance expert helped you with the basics required to set an effective budget for the New Year, now let’s talk about how you can realistically plan out your money sitch to suit your wants and needs. Remember, it’s important to get a plan in place now so that you can come out on top in 2015!
Realistic Planning
One of the other important aspects of budgeting is being realistic! Knowing how much money you earn and how much you spend helps you to make that decision.
- Are you renting or living in a place that costs you too much money?
- Can you downsize at all?
- Are you spending perhaps too much money on too many ‘luxury’ items?
- Do you go out more than you eat in?
These are all factors to consider when budgeting.
A budget is a realistic financial plan, put together based on your income, expenses, and savings goals. The most important aspect is being realistic. It won’t take long to work out that if you are budgeting $100 per month on food, but actually spend $350 on a regular basis, your budget won’t be sustainable and will need to be reviewed.
Private Health Insurance
If you’re looking at the expense of private health cover – take a look at iselect.com.au
Or better still, do a search online for health care providers you would be interested in having your cover with. Take some time out of your day, perhaps your lunch break or if you can get in to work early some of the call centres are often open early (and also after hours) so you can make some queries before starting your workday.
Talk to the call centre staff and tell them what it is you need: consider whether you need to see a chiropractor, use alternative therapy extras, whether you visit the dentist on a regular basis etc. these are all important factors that will determine how much you will spend on your monthly health insurance bill. Also for those who are over 31 years of age they need to consider budgeting a little extra as the health insurers will charge more for people in that age bracket.
If it seems as though it might be cheaper to not have private health insurance at all then that is also an option. It may be better value for some people to simply pay for what they use, when they use it.
Food Shopping
Being organised is the key here. Are you the kind of person who likes to wing it and just buy food for when/how you feel on the night? This will end up costing you a lot more than if you were organised. Just think about each time you visit, you always end up getting a few more items extra than you expected – adding this up each week is costly. Are you guilty?
If you can be organised and disciplined enough to write a weekly shopping list – this will help immensely! Everyone keeps a diary or plans on their phone calendars how their week is going to pan out. Therefore, if you know this you should find it relatively easy to get into a routine of planning your week ahead for food.
Sit down and consider where you will be and when for the week. Are you at work Monday-Friday and therefore need lunches and snacks for the week? Will you make these yourself or will you buy them? Either way you will need to buy those items or the ingredients to make them. Work out how many days you need these items over the week and buy accordingly.
Consider which nights you will be home to cook and plan your weekly meals in order to purchase the required ingredients. Ensure that if something were to come up, you can easily freeze or store the food so that it doesn’t go to waste = more money wasted.
Inspiration for Budgeting
If the above isn’t enough inspiration, and you really do want to get on top of your finances, here are some great reasons why you should start: 
An expert in business and finance, Chloe Harrington (BBus | DFS Financial Planning | Grad Dip Psych) has a decade of the industry up her sleeve. Along with a degree in Psychology, Chloe’s one true loves are Pilates, tuna pesto pasta and epic Bircher bowls.
From Adelaide, South Australia, Chloe has worked in the finance and business world for Fund Managers, Banks and Investment Firms in Adelaide, Brisbane and London.