Count the Cost!

Do you have a budget? Many persons scorn the idea of planning ahead. They feel that the best thing to be is to spontaneously spend their money buying the things that they want with little or no preparation.  This philosophy hardly ever works out and those persons who practice it often find themselves in debt.

Why do you need a budget?

A budget is simply a plan of how to use your income to pay your expenses. It also helps consumers decide how much they can spend for vacations or on personal items that they might want but is not necessary. If you think of any major undertaking in life, you will realize that the better planned that they were then the more efficiently they were performed.

The same is true of achieving your financial goals.  Therefore by using a budget, you can clearly identify how much you can save each month. I have found that it is difficult for me  to try and identify where I am spending too much money.

However if I write the items that I purchase every week then it easily becomes apparent where I can save. When a budget is prepared consumers also can count the cost of items before they spend.

So even if the budget shows that you can afford an item, it is important to determine if the item is really worth the sacrifice that would have to be made in order to afford it.

Should you buy it? – Factors to consider before you buy!

If you really want something whether it is a vacation or electronic gadget what should be your course of action? Well first determine if it is something that you need.

Secondly determine if you can afford it at full price or if you will need to pay for it in installments.  Some installment plans carry an interest rate and you end up paying more for the item than the original cash price.

A third factor to be examined when making a purchase is the quality of the item.  Sometimes we are so wrapped up in getting a good price that we fail to do our due diligence and examine the product.

Therefore it is only when we get the item home that we realize that it is inferior but by then of course we have wasted our money.

So having a budget is very important but even if you can afford the item, remember to ‘count the cost’!

What’s your take on the issue? Let me hear from you!

Teri Ann Renee Paisley

Gleaner online writer

Tags: afford, budget, cost