As a new month is beginning, Dear Readers, it’s the perfect time to set a budget for 2022. Keep reading to find how to set a budget and live more peacefully without feeling weighted down by financial uncertainty.
Welcome to the JMS blog, your hub for the success tips to level up your brand.
As a reminder, this website answers all your branding questions. If it is your first time visiting, this blog is the brainchild of JMStrategy LLC (JMS), a boutique consulting firm that offers strategic solutions to strengthen your professional or personal brands. To that end, the JMS team is in the business of designing recovery plans as robust as possible that avoid behavioral or productivity inertia. Now, without further ado, let’s dive into everything you need to know about setting a budget to live 2022 like a boss!
Why should you set a budget?
Dear Readers, are any of the following scenarios familiar? Can’t fall asleep at night because you’re worried about money? Can’t stop thinking about your bills? Keep putting off significant yet necessary expenses because you seem to run out of money every month? Desperately looking for cheaper meal options as everything appears to be more expensive every time you go to the grocery store.
Related: How To Budget Amid Rising Inflation.
Thus, for peace of mind and the welfare of your loved ones, Dear Readers, you need a monthly money routine. The materialization of said money routine is the budget. And, for a budget to work for you, it is crucial to develop a more positive outlook toward money, Dear Readers. There is no need to be afraid of it. You want to take your destiny into your own hands. To that end, Dear readers, the JMS team believes that money, like anything else, is a skill you can conquer. All you need is a little bit of discipline and a whole lot of organization. In short, to achieve peace of mind, you need a budget!!!
How to set a budget?
Meet Miss Clarice, a hard-working single Philadelphia resident who is now retired and living on a fixed income. As inflation wreaked havoc on her budget, her daughter came to JMS for financial and crisis management support.
Step one is to have a game plan for EACH paycheck.
This step was the hardest one for Miss Clarice and her daughter to incorporate because they never paid attention to account statements. Like most of us, they were traumatized by the barrage of bad news we were all constantly consuming during the height of the pandemic in 2020. They did not have the emotional capacity to deal with more anxiety. Consequently, they continued to ignore their account statements well into 2021, when they could not afford to buy everything needed.
Does that sound familiar, Dear Readers? Then, you need a game plan for your paychecks! Essentially, Dear Readers, you want to assign specific expenses to each paycheck to have maximum liquidity at any time of the month. For example, if you get paid every two weeks, you want to split your expenses evenly so that you retain roughly the same percentage of each paycheck each month.
For Miss Clarice, rent, renter’s insurance, and utilities all come out of her Social Security check at the beginning of the month. When she receives her pension check, she pays the car note, car insurance payment, and gas by the middle of the month. This way, she has enough left over from both checks to afford groceries, online subscriptions & Netflix, copays on medical visits & drugs as needed throughout the month. Of course, she is lucky that she has no student loans, gym membership, or credit card debt payments to account for this late in her life. But you get the gist, don’t you, Dear Readers?
Step two is to have a strategy for short-term saving goals.
Should you have a game plan for short-term savings? The answer is yes! Dear Readers, you want to have a saving stash you can dip into whenever necessary. Why? Because life is full of unexpected events. You know, Dear Readers, minor setbacks such as fixing the taillight of your newly purchased car or an urgent visit to the dentist for sudden pain management turns into an unwelcomed root canal diagnostic. These minor setbacks can be expensive if you don’t have a saving stash!
Therefore, Dear Readers, this blog invites you to set aside a certain amount every paycheck to accumulate in a short-term saving account separate from your checking. Even on a fixed or low account, you want to get into the habit of saving. You can start with as little as $5 and increase over time as you get more comfortable with this new practice. That’s what the JMS team did with Miss Clarice. We convinced her to set aside an amount that she would be comfortable parting with regularly, and now she has an emergency fund for the first time in her life!
Related: How To Start An Emergency Fund Now.
Final thoughts to set a budget that works for you.
There you have it! The JMS team thanks you, Dear Readers, for taking the time to read today’s publication. The JMS blog is here to inspire and encourage as you, Dear Readers, are embarking on the exhilarating journey to design the life of your dreams. This blog wants you to have the confidence to chase your dreams with reckless abandon!
As always, you can submit requests via the contact form. We will continue to publish weekly articles that answer your questions. As a small consulting firm, the JMS team feels lucky to have the ability to support clients across industries through any given crisis that rocks their daily operations. We want to do the same for you, Dearest Readers. We love creating articles that make you think, question everything you thought you knew, and change your life! Please share today’s article on social media with friends or colleagues who might need an extra pep talk!
Dear Readers, we want to hear from you!
Dear Readers, we strive to create better content for you. So, please don’t be shy and share your thoughts. Do you agree with our analysis, or do you think we are missing the point? What is your strategy around budgeting? Did setting a budget increase or reduce your anxiety around money management? Come back next month as we explore more budget tips and debt management strategies to help you start your wealth journey at last!
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