作者雪莉
Budgeting isn’t always easy. It takes some effort to get it set up and a lot of commitment to stick to it and make it work. However, budgeting doesn’t have to be painful and it can really add value to your life.
預算并不總是很容易。這需要一些努力去建立它并堅持下去，使其工作。然而，預算并不僅是痛苦的，它確實(shí)能為您的生活增值。
Gwynn and I have tried a number of different budgeting techniques, each with their pros and cons. It took us several years (10 in fact) to come up with a method that works really well for us (another post). Along the way it became apparent that there are a few critical things that make budgeting effective and I’d like to share them with you.
格溫和我已經(jīng)嘗試了一些不同的預算編制方法，各有其利弊。我們花了好幾年（其實(shí)是10年）想出一個(gè)方法，對我們真的很有效（另一篇文章）。一路上，很明顯，有幾個(gè)關(guān)鍵的東西，能使預算有效，我想與大家分享他們。
1. Account for all of your income. It’s important to know what your total monthly or bi-weekly income is in order to know what you have to start with. It’s a good idea to mark out on a calendar or spreadsheet the dates you get paid and the total amount. This is a critical first step in setting up an effective budget.
1。知道你所有收入的用途。知道你每月或每?jì)芍艿目偸杖胧鞘种匾?，這樣才能知道你該怎么開(kāi)始預算。在日歷上或電子表格標示出花銷(xiāo)的日期和總金額是一個(gè)好主意。建立一個(gè)有效的預算這是關(guān)鍵的第一步。
2. Have an accurate list of all expenses. Start with all the necessary expenses such as phone, water, hydro, home insurance, mortgage, car payments, groceries etc. Make this list exhaustive, it won’t help if you cheat and leave out items you need to pay monthly or quarterly. Once you have all the necessary items listed move on to other items such as cell phones, internet, cable, eating out, clothes etc. I can’t stress enough the importance of listing everything here.
2。對所有花銷(xiāo)有一個(gè)準確的列表。從所有必要的開(kāi)支列起，如電話(huà)，水，水電，房屋保險，抵押貸款，汽車(chē)支付，雜貨等，盡可能使這個(gè)清單詳盡，如果你謊報了你需要支付的每月或每季度的開(kāi)支那么就毫無(wú)用處了。一旦你已經(jīng)列出的所有必要的項目那就移動(dòng)到其他項目，如手機，互聯(lián)網(wǎng)，有線(xiàn)電視，外出吃飯，衣服等，我不再強調列出一切項目的重要性。
3. Set up automatic transfers. Take away the urge to spend the money in your account by never letting it get there in the first place. One way to do this is to set up automated transfers for the day you get paid. Set up as many transfers as you need by having the money go directly to your emergency fund, holiday fund or retirement fund etc. We have 4 automated transfers set up so that the day after pay day the money is automatically shuffled off to 4 different accounts, and we don’t even see it. It’s really easy and for the most part it’s set and forget.
3。設置自動(dòng)轉帳。遏制住花費您的帳戶(hù)中的錢(qián)的沖動(dòng)，從來(lái)不要讓它擺在首位。做到這一點(diǎn)的方法之一是為你一日的花費設立一個(gè)自動(dòng)轉移。為你的需要做出足夠的轉移，將錢(qián)轉移到度假基金，緊急基金，基金或退休基金等，我們建立了4個(gè)自動(dòng)轉移，在支付后的第二天錢(qián)就自動(dòng)分成4個(gè)不同的帳戶(hù)，我們沒(méi)有看到它。它真的很簡(jiǎn)單，在大多數情況下，它被建立后就忘記了。
4. Be realistic. It is important to be realistic with the amounts you set in the budget. Like having an incomplete list of all expenses, being unrealistic with the amounts you allocate to each item will make the budget unreliable and highly ineffective. Some items vary from month to month, like the phone bill for example, so track the amounts for a few months, take an average, and round up to the nearest $10. It may also help to add an additional $10 or $20 to the budgeted amount, if you have enough breathing room, to make sure you are covered each time.
4。必須面對現實(shí)。用現實(shí)面對預算設置的金額是非常重要的。就像一個(gè)不完整的花銷(xiāo)清單，分配給每個(gè)項目的金額費用是不現實(shí)的，那么這個(gè)預算是不可靠并且高度無(wú)效的。有些項目花銷(xiāo)每月不同，例如電話(huà)帳單一樣，所以綜合了數個(gè)月的金額，取平均值，并四舍五入到最接近的$ 10。它也可能有助于增加額外的$ 10或者$ 20的預算金額，如果你有足夠的喘息空間，請確保你的預算覆蓋了所有時(shí)間。
5. Use cash. A lot of people swear by using cash and I am certainly one of them. It was VERY difficult initially but it really helps to curb spending. I find it’s a lot harder to part with $80 of physical cash for a pair of jeans when I only have $100 cash a month to spend on clothing. I am a lot more aware of the money I have and what I spend it on. Conversely, I wouldn’t have thought twice of spending $80 on a pair of jeans if I put it on a credit card and I would have been more likely to go over my $100 budget since it’s not as visible.
5。使用現金。很多人發(fā)誓使用現金，我當然其中之一。最初這是非常困難，但它確實(shí)有助于遏制消費。當我只有100元現金花費在衣服上，我覺(jué)得購買(mǎi)一條現金 $80的牛仔褲是很困難的。我很清楚我有多少錢(qián)以及我該怎么花。相反，如果有信用卡我會(huì )毫不猶豫的買(mǎi)下 $80的牛仔褲，看起來(lái)我還沒(méi)有超出我100美元的預算，因為它是不可見(jiàn)的。
6. Have fun money. This is where budgets get a bad rep. If you budget too tightly and have no money on hand for fun stuff you’re more likely to get frustrated, annoyed and give up on it. Be sure to include things that may seem extravagant or frivolous if you enjoy them. Things like going to the movies or out for dinner, be sure to budget what you can towards them and take the money out in cash. This helps you to spend guilt free (and trust me you will spend it anyway so best to capture it).
6。有娛樂(lè )花銷(xiāo)。這是預算中一個(gè)壞的代表。如果你的預算太緊，你手頭上有沒(méi)有錢(qián)去娛樂(lè )，你就更有可能會(huì )感到沮喪，煩躁，放棄它。確保預算中包括一些你喜歡的似乎有些奢侈或輕浮之類(lèi)的東西，比如看電影或吃飯，確信你可以這些預算和現金花費有所準備。這有助于減輕你的犯罪感（相信我，無(wú)論如何你也會(huì )有這筆花銷(xiāo)，所以最好保留它）。
7. Align budgeting with your goals. It helps to have an idea of what your long term goals or directions are so you can make your budget work for you, not control you. If your goal is to go overseas for a month but there’s no money left over to allocate to a travel fund your budget is rather ineffective. You could start by taking a look at where your money is going and if there is somewhere you can cut back to make greater headway with your travel goal.
7。對準你的目標預算。它可以幫助你對長(cháng)期目標或方向有一個(gè)想法，這樣就可以讓你的預算為你工作，而不是控制你。如果你的目標是到海外去一個(gè)月，但你的預算中沒(méi)有分配給旅行的基金，這樣同樣是沒(méi)用的。你可以看看你的錢(qián)花在哪里了，如果有些地方你可以削減，那樣便有助于你的旅行目標有更大的進(jìn)展。
8. Find a system that works for you. There’s a lot of software available to help with setting up a budget. My advice is to evaluate several and use one that works for you. There is nothing worse than trying to use something when you’re fighting it every step of the way. There are complete software packages available like Quicken and MS Money. There are also online resources such as mint.com and quicken online. We’ve looked at a few different options but none have met our needs 100%. We set up a very detailed budget using a very simple spreadsheet. It works for us because it’s flexible, simple and reports information in a very customizable format.
8。找到適合您的系統。這里有大量的軟件去幫助你建立一個(gè)預算。我的建議是評估幾個(gè)然后挑選其一為你工作。沒(méi)有比當你試圖使用什么東西你卻要與他每一步的工作方式作斗爭更糟糕的了。有完整的軟件包，就像Quicken和MS貨幣。當然也有網(wǎng)上資源如mint.com和加快網(wǎng)。我們看了幾個(gè)不同的選項，但沒(méi)有滿(mǎn)足我們100％需要的。我們使用非常簡(jiǎn)單的電子表格設立了非常詳細的預算。我們用它工作，因為它靈活，簡(jiǎn)單和可以以自定義的方式報告信息。
Using these tips you can set up an effective budget for yourself and your household. A budget should be used as a tool to help you align your spending with achieving your goals. Budgeting doesn’t have to be hard or restrictive. If done effectively it can add a great deal of value to your life.
使用這些技巧，你可以為您和您的的家庭設立一個(gè)有效的預算。預算應作為一種工具，可以使您的消費和目標保持一致。預算并不難且沒(méi)有限制性。如果以有效的方式去使用它，將會(huì )為你的生活增添巨大的價(jià)值。
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