Perla Pascual

One of the challenges with proper budgeting is that ithas to become habitual in order to be effective. You can survive withoutknowing how to budget if you manage to keep more money coming in rather than goingout or have credit cards to cover the gap, but this won't last forever. EmergencyFund The crux of this six-month plan is the emergency fund.Ideally, everyone should have at least one or two months' wages sitting in a moneymarket account for any unpleasant surprises. This emergency fund acts as abuffer as the rest of the budget is put in place, and should replace the use ofcredit cards for emergency situations. You will want to build your emergencyfund as quickly as possible. The key is to build the fund at regular intervals,consistently devoting a certain percentage of each paycheck toward it and, ifpossible, putting in whatever you can spare on top. What'san Emergency? You should only use the emergency money for trueemergencies: like when you drive to work but your muffler stays at home.Covering regular purchases like clothes and food do not count, even if you usedyour credit card to buy them. Downsizeand Substitute Now that you have a buffer between you and morehigh-interest debt, it is time to start the process of downsizing. It’s odd that the naturalsolution to not enough money seems to be increasing income ratherthan decreasing spending, but this backwards approach is very familiar to debtcounselors. The more space you can create between your expenses and yourincome, the more income you will have to pay down debt and invest. This can bea process of substitution as much as elimination. For example, if you buycoffee from a fancy coffee shop every morning, you could just as easilypurchase a coffee maker with a grinder and make your own, saving more moneyover the long term. Focuson Rewards Another trick that will help your budget come togetherfaster is to focus on the rewards. A mixture of long- and short-term goals willhelp keep you motivated. This can be as simple as saving for a small luxury, oreven something bigger like buying a car with cash. Watching these goals slowlybut surely become a reality can be very satisfying and provide further motivationto work harder at your budget. FindNew Sources of Income Why isn't this the first step? If you simply increaseyour income without a budget to handle the extra cash properly, the gains tendto slip through the cracks and vanish. Once you have your budget in place andhave more money coming in than going out, you can start investing to createmore income. Now, it is possible that it will take you more than sixmonths to get your budget balanced out as it all depends on your situation,including how much or what kind of debt you have. But, even if it does take youlonger than six months to get your budget turned around, it is time well spent.