*Article contributed by Sarah Morris.
Money doesn’t grow from trees. It’s earned through hard work. Even the wealthy don’t stay on their couch, but ordinary people have to work more to earn more money. Sadly, some people fail to manage their finances properly, and before they know it, their hard-earned pay is gone even before the next payday. If you’re guilty of committing this mistake, you badly need to learn how to budget. You get the idea of listing your necessary expenses, but it’s the computing part that sets you off. Using a calculator can help, but a simple budget calculator is even better.
Technology is your friend when it comes to budgeting. And a finance or budgeting calculator, whether it’s a software or an app, has these advantages to offer:
You can Better Organize Your Finances
Using a pen and a paper to jot down your list of expenses can be very confusing. This is especially true if you’re not a fan of numbers and calculations. You could miss out on some items and remember them in the middle of your manual calculation. This will not only mess up your calculations, but you could also end up doing it all over again. With a budget calculator, organizing your budget and finances can be a breeze because of these automatic listing features:
- Categorization – Budgeting software and apps can
categorize your expenses into different levels of importance. Some of these
categories are:
- Personal
- Educational
- Utilities
- Health
- Food
- Travel
- Transportation
- Prioritization – Some of these budget calculators also automatically sequence your expenses based on the level of necessity.
It Helps Tracks Your Spending
It’s a pet peeve for every money-conscious person not to know where the money goes. A lot of people are surprised to find that they only have a few bills left, but they can’t seem to remember what they used the money for. You can avoid this spending amnesia if you have a budget app or calculator handy since your expense list is there. However, this will only work if you do not forget to update your list of expense items every time you spend on something that isn’t on the list already. But do you know what an even better option is? It’s disciplining yourself to only spend according to what’s on your budget list and avoid spending on extra things unless it’s necessary.
It Saves You Time
The paper and pen method takes longer minutes or even hours of sitting down just to get it done. Using a budget calculator can spare you this time-squandering practice. A budget calculator instantaneously performs budget calculations, so you don’t have to go through the hassle of doing things manually.
You Can Plan Your Finances Ahead
Unless if you’re a finance or accounting professional, it’ll be difficult for you to picture out how your finances will look like in the next few weeks and months. But you realize that it’s important to have a better grasp of your finances in the upcoming months. You’ll be able to do this with a budgeting calculator. When you plot out your projected expenses in the following months, the budget calculator will automatically sum this up. When you know how much you’ll have to cover, you can find ways to control your spending now and also think of other sources of income.
You’ll Be Compelled to Save
Like many people, you may have been planning to save part of your salary regularly. And also like many people, this plan doesn’t successfully come to fruition. Often times, it’s already too late when you remember to save. Fortunately, a budget calculator always includes a part for savings. True, it takes personal volition and commitment to save money consistently but, sometimes, all it takes is some push from the outside. This push can come from a budget calculator. Every time you open your budget calculator, and you see an empty savings slot, you’ll be motivated to start initiating your savings plan. Once you start growing your savings, you’ll get even more motivated to keep going.
It Can Save Your Budgeting Data
Keeping computer files of your budget and spending will, over time, eat up a lot of your disk space. Worse can be said about using bulks of notebooks that can take up physical space in your room. Compared to storing computer files and paper notebooks, budget calculators can save your budgeting data from the past weeks, months, and years. Internet cloud storage is virtually infinite, so it allows you to save a huge amount of data.
Allows You to Assess Your Budgeting Skills
The start is usually a challenging stage for any practice. The same is true about budgeting. But once you get the hang of it, it can turn into a good habit. With a budgeting calculator, you can have a better overview of your budgeting skills. Some budget calculating apps and software generate reports based on your spending and saving patterns. This report will reflect how well you have improved and also help you push yourself to do even better.
You Can Use it on Your Phone
Nowadays, people are always on the go. Mobile phones have been a blessing for people living in this fast-paced generation. Modern budgeting calculators also have to keep up with the pace, which is why some of these tools now come in the form of downloadable phone applications. You can access them whenever and wherever you need. This makes it easier to update and review your budget.
Conclusion
As you read through this list, you could think that a budget calculator can be a real savior. Some may argue that no matter how convenient and reliable a budget calculator is, it won’t be of any help. However, this can only be true if you don’t use it well. Indeed, nothing beats self-discipline, but if you’re like most people who can use a little nudge, then a budget calculator may just be what you need. After all, you can’t deny the advantages that come along with it.
*Article contributed by Sarah Morris.