Why You Need A Budget, Even If You’re Broke

Why You Need A Budget, Even If You’re Broke

A friend of mine is a career counselor. During sessions, she inevitably asks clients: do you have a budget? A common response is: No, because I don’t have a lot of money. The good news is: you don’t have to be rich to come up with a budget.

Photo by FolsomNatural.

Being broke does make budgeting more of a challenge, but a budget is simply a plan for how to spend your income, every month, even if that income is meager. Call it a spending plan, call it money management. Whatever the name, the goal is the same: organising your monthly income into various categories for spending, from bills to food to paying off debt.

When you’re not working with much, these categories are going to be slim, yes. But coming up with a plan puts you in control, and when it comes to personal finance, control is everything.

If you don’t have a budget, you can get started with our primer on how to budget in general.


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