Bankruptcy Alternatives Blog

Budgeting as a Bankruptcy Alternative

No not budgeting! We all hate the “B” word. Budgeting is hard. Making a budget is boring! Budgets don’t work!

If you believe any of those statements about budgeting, read on.

If you want to avoid personal bankruptcy, you need a budget. And you need a simple budget so that you can stick to it.

A budget is simply a list of what you make and what you spend. That’s it. That’s a budget. It’s just a list. Why is that scary?

So get a piece of paper, and make a list of everything you spend money on. Or, use your computer to create a Personal Budget Spreadsheet.

To keep it simple, use one column, or one page, for every time you get paid. If you get paid weekly, you should have a column for every week. If you get paid every two weeks, then divide your expenses up every two weeks.

If you get paid twice per month, and your rent is $1,000 per month, then your budget will have two columns per month, and will show $500 for rent in each column. If your landlord will let you pay your rent twice a month, life is easy. If not, leave $500 in the bank after this paycheck, so that the money is there next paycheck when you pay your rent, just like your budget says!

It’s that easy. You can read more in our articles about how to make a personal budget and personal budgeting information, so get started today.

Tagged as budget, personal bankruptcy, bankruptcy, bankruptcy alternatives