15 Ways to Make Budgeting Easier

Making a budget is a crucial first step toward building financial security because it allows you to make the wisest possible use of your limited funds. But it can be a huge challenge to make a budget you're actually able to live on.

The good news is, there are some tips and techniques that can simplify the budgeting process. In fact, here are 15 things to try to make it easier for you to make a financial document that guides your spending decisions effectively.

5 Stocks Under $49
Presented by Motley Fool Stock Advisor
We hear it over and over from investors, "I wish I had bought Amazon or Netflix when they were first recommended by The Motley Fool. I’d be sitting on a gold mine!" It's true, but we think these 5 other stocks are screaming buys. And you can buy them now for less than $49 a share! Click here to learn how you can grab a copy of "5 Growth Stocks Under $49" for FREE for a limited time only.

It's much easier to make a realistic budget if you have an idea of where your money is currently going.

Unless you track your spending for a while first, you'll end up with arbitrary guesses for how much to spend in different categories that may have no relationship to your actual life.

Keeping track of where your money is going enables you to make realistic cuts in certain categories while allocating an appropriate amount of money to savings and expenditures as you make your budget.

ALSO READ: 3 Benefits of Tracking Your Spending

One of the biggest challenges of budgeting is making sure you build all of your expenditures in. And this can be hard to do because most people have irregular expenses. These may include things like biannual trash bills, birthday and holiday spending, and annual membership fees.

If you review around a year's worth of old bank and credit card statements, you can make a list of these odd expenses so you can be sure to include them when you set up your budget. In fact, you can save for them throughout the year instead of having to come up with the money all at once.

There isn't just one way to budget, and some techniques work well for certain people but not for others.

Common approaches include:

• A zero-based budget where every dollar of income is allocated to specific expenditures, leaving you with $0 left over.
• A 50/30/20 budget, which allocates 50% to needs, 30% to discretionary expending, and 20% to saving.
• An envelope budget, which involves putting a designated amount of money into envelopes for different expenses and no longer spending once it is gone.

ALSO READ: The Complete Guide to Budgeting Methods

Married or partnered couples need to make sure they both work together when setting a budget. That way, each party has input so you can come up with a collaborative document you are both able to live with.

This is true even if you maintain separate finances, as each partner's spending decisions can still affect the other person.

The purpose of making a budget is to use your money wisely to help you accomplish specific goals such as saving for retirement. As a result, you'll want to know what your goals are before you begin the budgeting process.

If you identify what you hope to accomplish, you can determine how much you must invest each month toward achieving your goal. Then you can build this into your budget.

5 Stocks Under $49
Presented by Motley Fool Stock Advisor
We hear it over and over from investors, "I wish I had bought Amazon or Netflix when they were first recommended by The Motley Fool. I’d be sitting on a gold mine!" It's true, but we think these 5 other stocks are screaming buys. And you can buy them now for less than $49 a share! Click here to learn how you can grab a copy of "5 Growth Stocks Under $49" for FREE for a limited time only.

Obviously, most people have a limited amount of money. As a result, you'll want to build the essentials into your budget first.

This includes things like rent, food, and utilities. But it should also include investments in your financial goals so your money can pay off for you in the long run.

Once you've allocated money to the things that matter most, you can decide how you want to divide up the rest.

ALSO READ: Retirement Planning: How to Map Out Your Financial Success

Of course you want to make sure your budget enables you to pay the bills and prepare for the future. But if you cut all of the fun out of it, you probably won't stick with it for long.

To make sure you can actually live on the budget you set for yourself, build in some spending on the things you find fun. That way, you can indulge your hobbies without guilt because you've planned an appropriate amount to spend on them.

If you can't make the numbers work because you have too many expenditures and too little income, it's tempting to focus on making little cuts here and there. The problem is, it can be very hard to live with all of these limitations you set on yourself.

Rather than nickel-and-diming and depriving yourself, try to find one or two big things that you can change. If you make one major decision once, such as changing to a cheaper car, this can free up tons of money in your budget and will be much easier to stick to because you can't really undo it.

ALSO READ: 20 Ways to Cut Spending

No matter how carefully you budget, it is inevitable that some surprise expense will crop up.

You don't want to blow your budget when this happens, so build in a little bit of extra cash each month for "surprise" expenses. That way, the money will be there when you need it.

Making a budget one time and expecting it to work forever is setting yourself up for failure.

You'll need to revisit your basic budget on a regular basis -- typically as often as once per month -- to identify changes you need to make and to confirm everything is working.

It's also helpful to remember that if you blow your budget one month, you can hopefully start fresh and get back on track during the next one.

5 Stocks Under $49
Presented by Motley Fool Stock Advisor
We hear it over and over from investors, "I wish I had bought Amazon or Netflix when they were first recommended by The Motley Fool. I’d be sitting on a gold mine!" It's true, but we think these 5 other stocks are screaming buys. And you can buy them now for less than $49 a share! Click here to learn how you can grab a copy of "5 Growth Stocks Under $49" for FREE for a limited time only.

When life gets busy, it's easy to let your budgeting process fall by the wayside. But if you don't prioritize this process, you could find yourself without a guide to tell you how best to spend. This is especially true if you have a partner and you need to make time to work together.

Make a commitment to budget on a specific day and to review your progress regularly so you can always make sure you're up to date on outlining your spending plan.

ALSO READ: 8 Annual Expenses to Budget and Plan for Now

Emergencies can happen to anyone, and they can blow a hole right through your budget. This can be discouraging and make it more difficult to accomplish your goals.

But if you have an emergency fund, you aren't going to need to throw your spending plan out the window when something goes wrong. Instead you can rely on your savings and then make a plan within your budget to rebuild that account over time.

If you struggle with the process of making a budget or with tracking your spending to ensure you are sticking to it, there are plenty of apps out there. These can provide invaluable help by doing things like outlining different spending categories or providing a template you can use to start the budgeting process.

You may have to try out a few apps to find one that works for you. But if it makes budgeting easier in the long run, it's worth it.

ALSO READ: The Best Budgeting Apps for 2022

The reality is there are only so many spending cuts that are possible to make. And it's a lot easier to create a workable budget if you have plenty of money to go around.

As a result, if you have a hard time budgeting, see if you can increase the amount you earn. Bringing in some extra money each month from a side gig or by doing overtime could make all the difference.

Finally, it's all too easy to focus on the sacrifices associated with budgeting rather than the reasons why you're doing it.

Try to change your mindset from all the things budgeting prevents you from doing to instead remember all the doors that a careful spending plan can open for you.

5 Stocks Under $49
Presented by Motley Fool Stock Advisor
We hear it over and over from investors, "I wish I had bought Amazon or Netflix when they were first recommended by The Motley Fool. I’d be sitting on a gold mine!" It's true, but we think these 5 other stocks are screaming buys. And you can buy them now for less than $49 a share! Click here to learn how you can grab a copy of "5 Growth Stocks Under $49" for FREE for a limited time only.

By implementing many or all of these 15 tips, hopefully you can find a way to make a budget that you can live on happily over the long term.

If you can do that, and your budget helps you accomplish your goals, you'll end up in a much better place and you'll be very glad you made the effort.

The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.