Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Building a Budget

If you know me in real life, it will come as no surprise that I LOVE Canadian financial guru Gail Vaz Oxlade. She's one of my career idols. This lady just makes SENSE!

The secret to my financial "success"? Her simple rules.
Don't spend more than you make.
Credit cards are the devil.
ALWAYS have savings.

Sounds simple enough, right? But you'd be surprised how many people just don't.
Sure, I'm human and I slip up, spend a little more than I've allocated to category, bring out the credit card for an impulsive buy, but because I have a plan (of sorts) I can always figure it out.

If you have a few minutes, you should check out the resources section on her website. It definitely helped me get my finances in check and plan for the future, something that as a young adult I never thought mattered.

My favorite is her "build a budget" tool. Download the excel version and it does all the calculations for you!

Melrose Budget

2 comments:

  1. I've bookmarked this. Is it easy to use? Hubs and I have had such issues trying to get a budget together. It'd be great if the program worked for us.

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  2. I have to say thank you for this post.
    I have been saving since very little and when I got my first job I decided to save even more. I have had a private retirement plan for almost 10 years and my recent car purchases have been self-financed. I have only 1 credit card and I FEAR debt. SO you can imagine how useful this link is :)

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