All The Frugal Ladies Personal finance with a feminine touch
A budget is an instrumental tool in managing your finances. It gives a clear vision of how much money you have coming in each month, and more importantly, how that money is being distributed.
A solid budget can help you to reduce wasteful spending, save money, and make informed purchasing decisions. Yet, it’s effectiveness declines when you forget to add all your expenses.
From your monthly streaming service subscription to vehicle registrations, when not accounted for, these bills can quickly wreak havoc on your pockets.
Forgetting to add something to the budget doesn’t have to be a disaster if you’re prepared. Having a backup plan when you need to get your hands on extra cash is ideal.
There are plenty of resources to consider, but, here are a few below to consider:
Dip Into Emergency Savings
Not everything constitutes a financial emergency, however, if you forgot to budget for your car’s registration, failing to get it updated will only incur more costs.
So, it would be best to take the money from your emergency savings and renew your registration so that you’re safe and legal on the road.
Cashback Rewards
For those of you who use credit cards and enjoy perks like cash back, it’s time to cash in on those rewards.
You can use the extra change accumulated to pay for a streaming subscription service, birthday gift, or another small item you may have forgotten to add to the budget.
Loans
If you missed something in the budget that’s a bit more expensive, like a home improvement repair or property tax bill, it may be best to borrow the money.
This way, you can handle the expense and pay back the balance due over time to avoid overextending your funds. In the event they are needed fast, consumer installment loans are easy to apply for online and in person.
You can complete the application within minutes and if approved, you can have several hundred or even several thousand dollars deposited into your account.
The loan can be paid back with conveniently scheduled payments over the course of a few months.
Sell Your Things
If you can’t afford to repay a loan or need more cash than you were approved for, you can always find some things around the house to sell for cash.
People are always looking for cheap finds and will pay a decent amount for things you have no use for.
Whether you sell your junk car or old jewelry or your old clothes and dishes, you can make enough to cover an overlooked medical expense, or for extra gas money to get you through the week.
Friends and Family
When you’re in a jam and you don’t have anywhere else to turn, sometimes those closest to you can help. Contact relatives or friends and ask for assistance.
If you go this route, however, make sure that you don’t take their kindness for granted.
They’ve loaned you the money with the belief that you will repay it, so honor your agreement.
Earn Cash Online
There are many opportunities to make money online pretty quickly.
You can answer surveys, review websites, play video games, write reviews, manage social media, or get a job as an at home customer service rep, data entry clerk, or virtual assistant to bring in some extra income.
Negotiate or Rearrange Other Bills
If you can’t seem to find enough cash to cover the expense you forgot to budget for, you may need to do some rearranging.
This may mean looking over the bills you currently pay and seeing which you can hold off on paying or negotiate an arrangement to pay at a later date.
For example, if you need to pay your annual credit card fees, you might put your streaming service account on hold for a month or skip eating out for the week to cover the costs.
If you forgot to put something in the budget, try not to beat yourself up too much. You’re human and bound to make mistakes.
The best thing you can do is select a backup plan or plans that works best for you.
Then, take steps to avoid the problem in the future like adding it to the budget for the future, investing more into your emergency savings, and generating more income.
