0:04

Hello, I'm your host,

0:04

Mr. Chuck, I retired accountant

0:08

turned truck driver, I reduce my

0:08

debt in a relatively short

0:13

period of time, debt reduction

0:13

to achieve financial freedom

0:18

takes commitment, confidence,

0:18

determination.

0:24

Budget maintenance, keeping a

0:24

budget up to date is key to

0:29

keeping debt under control.

0:29

Using good information on a

0:34

timely basis is key to finding

0:34

and fixing problems. before they

0:41

become a problem. I'm gonna talk

0:41

not about how to set up a

0:46

budget, but what you do once you

0:46

have your budget set up, and

0:51

some of the common mistakes

0:51

people make. So you can avoid

0:56

that, I have two links to two

0:56

articles in my show notes. And

1:03

if you're interested in the

1:03

software that I personally use

1:06

to reduce my debt, there is a

1:06

link and my show notes of shop

1:12

financial, I believe it is the

1:12

fairly bottom one, you're going

1:16

to have to copy and paste it

1:16

because it doesn't automatically

1:18

do anything, as far as I know,

1:18

at least at this time.

1:24

So let's get into this. I'm

1:24

assuming that you're already

1:28

doing some stuff, and maybe you

1:28

have some sort of budget. If

1:33

you've been following my

1:33

podcast, you know, you should be

1:36

tracking. And you use your

1:36

reports from your tracking app

1:41

to create your budget. So that

1:41

is gonna help you avoid some of

1:46

the common mistakes. Because the

1:46

first common mistake is not

1:50

writing your budget down. And if

1:50

you don't write it down, you

1:54

basically don't have a budget.

1:54

So what's the problem? Or what's

1:59

the, what's the use of doing

1:59

them. And two is not tracking

2:03

your spending? Well, you're

2:03

already doing that, because you

2:05

use your tracking software to

2:05

create your budget, it's much

2:10

easier to do it that way.

2:10

Instead of starting with the

2:15

budget, and making a bunch of

2:15

mistakes and given up and say it

2:19

don't work and all those type of

2:19

things. So the already got the

2:23

two basic problems solved. You

2:23

got your budget in writing,

2:29

because you've got it on a

2:29

spreadsheet, you're tracking

2:32

because you got your tracking app, and you're doing good. But you

2:35

got to be careful, you don't set

2:39

unrealistic or unrealistic

2:39

budgeting goals. Your budget is

2:44

only a tool to help you reach

2:44

your goals. But the tool can

2:49

only do what you tell it to do.

2:49

If you set your savings or

2:53

expense limits too low, it may

2:53

cause you to be too stretched.

2:57

And too financially thin later.

2:57

I don't know what they're

3:00

talking about. Setting goals too

3:00

high can cause you to get

3:03

discouraged with your budget.

3:03

Okay, what's her goals? One is

3:08

to pay off debt. And how you do

3:08

that? Well, you need a plan. And

3:13

the plan is tracking, budgeting,

3:13

what to do once you got that

3:18

done, what to do with your

3:18

money, we know that maybe you

3:23

are spending too much. So

3:23

tracking is going to help you

3:27

keep your spending under control

3:27

somewhat. But do you actually

3:31

know what your monthly expenses

3:31

are? Are you aware that you pay

3:36

things every month no matter

3:36

what? Rent mortgage? Car

3:40

payments, credit card payments,

3:40

all your loans, all your

3:44

utilities, food, gas, groceries,

3:44

those things you pay on a

3:50

monthly basis? Do you know how

3:50

much that is? Any clue? Most

3:55

people probably don't. If you

3:55

have a budget, you know, you can

3:59

keep an eye on thanks. That is

3:59

the beauty of having the budget

4:05

grouped in categories.

4:08

That all makes sense to you. I

4:08

know I say I group mine by

4:13

housing, transportation, food,

4:13

savings, debt. Let's the five

4:20

basic ones. You can do it any

4:20

way you want. I'm grouping them

4:25

together because those are needs

4:25

what I need to pay on a regular

4:32

basis. My wants are things I

4:32

want. I don't necessarily need

4:38

to have it. But I want to have

4:38

it. That's how you can

4:44

understand what's going on in

4:44

your personal finances. And

4:49

here's a big thing. If you've

4:49

been doing this for only a

4:53

month, or maybe even six months.

4:53

Maybe you're forgetting to track

4:58

one time expenses. I have some expensive

5:00

subscriptions to some streaming

5:04

services I pay once a year. I

5:04

know how much they are. And I

5:08

know when I got to pay them, do

5:08

you have things set up like

5:12

that? I set it up yearly,

5:12

because it's cheaper than

5:16

monthly or any other way to pay

5:16

it. But do not forget those one

5:21

time things or quarterly

5:21

expenses that come up, they need

5:26

to be a part of your budget, it

5:26

may take you some time to

5:30

discover all this, that that's

5:30

why one you're tracking and two

5:36

over time, you'll find them. And

5:36

then, too, you're setting up a

5:40

budget. And while you're setting

5:40

up the budget, you need to tell

5:44

you to think to yourself, is

5:44

there anything else do I pay

5:48

that's not included here that I

5:48

might pay once a year, twice a

5:53

year, four times a year. And

5:53

insurance is a big thing.

5:58

Subscriptions could be a big

5:58

thing,

6:01

especially for anti virus

6:01

software,

6:06

could be a expense that you have

6:06

on a yearly basis.

6:12

Five not planning for emergency

6:12

expenses. But we have that

6:16

covered. Because we're using the

6:16

emergency fund, you're setting

6:20

up an emergency account, to put

6:20

our money in to build up our

6:26

savings. So we can use it to

6:26

apply to debt. When you get your

6:31

debt paid off, you still gonna

6:31

have that you're gonna still be

6:35

putting money into your

6:35

emergency fund. In fact, you

6:38

should be building that up even

6:38

bigger. Don't plan for

6:43

emergency, I am emergencies

6:43

emergency, it's some unforeseen

6:48

event that happens sucks gonna

6:48

cost you some money. Whether

6:52

it's an accident, you have x a

6:52

car wreck, that's what insurance

6:56

helps pay for part of that, or

6:56

at least for the car and your

7:00

hospitalization. But then you

7:00

have to maybe there's some

7:04

additional expenses you have to

7:04

pay. That's why you set aside

7:08

money and your savings account

7:08

called an emergency fund, and

7:13

you have it. And the main reason

7:13

is, so you don't have to create

7:17

more debt. You don't get farther

7:17

into debt. But that even goes if

7:22

you're debt free, it's the same

7:22

principle a bit you will have

7:26

more, so be less likely you'll

7:26

have to go into debt.

7:31

And forgetting to plan for fun

7:31

expenses. Yes, we need to plan

7:35

for vacations and time off. A

7:35

budget is not should not be so

7:41

restrictive, that you can't live

7:41

your life. It's only a guideline

7:47

to how you spend your money, and

7:47

where your money is going, and

7:52

how much money you have. That's

7:52

the part of the budget. And once

7:58

you understand all these

7:58

concepts, then the budget is

8:02

important to help you get

8:02

through life. getting

8:08

discouraged when your budget

8:08

isn't working. Well, that's

8:11

probably because you're still

8:11

spending too much you're not

8:15

tracking your needs, you didn't

8:15

include everything in your

8:19

budget, and eight not reducing

8:19

your expenses. That's an ongoing

8:26

process that you do over time

8:26

where you look for things that

8:30

you're still paying for but no

8:30

longer using. He looked for ways

8:35

to reduce your monthly expenses,

8:35

whether it's cell phone service,

8:40

cable, TV, streaming services,

8:40

things like that. You have to

8:45

prioritize why you're trying to

8:45

build up your savings. They have

8:49

to figure out why am I doing

8:49

this to start with? Am I just

8:54

trying to keep my stuff under

8:54

control? Do I just want to see

8:58

where my money is gone? Or am I

8:58

trying to pay down debt? For

9:02

listeners Podcast? I'm gonna

9:02

assume you're trying to pay down

9:06

debt. So your goal is to pay off

9:06

some of those credit cards. Why

9:10

does credit cards get charged

9:10

up? It's different for

9:14

everybody. The most common

9:14

problem is you overspent for

9:18

whatever reason, that reason

9:18

doesn't matter. The fact is, you

9:24

spend too much money that you

9:24

didn't have at the time you

9:28

spend it. Therefore you use

9:28

credit in order to buy whatever

9:34

it was that got you into some

9:34

problems. So that's my first

9:40

article. This is the way you

9:40

don't do a budget.

9:46

If you followed my podcast and

9:46

you started out with tracking

9:50

first and then you created a

9:50

budget, you're not gonna have

9:54

some of these items that I'm

9:54

going to talk about next. But if

9:58

you just tried to Do you maybe some I said, create

10:00

a budget and do a budget. And

10:05

you looked online, and you just

10:05

learned about what a budget is

10:11

how to set one up income at the

10:11

top, it lists all your expenses,

10:17

whatever, you have no particular

10:17

order, put them in half, but

10:20

what whatever, three columns,

10:20

what you budgeted what you're

10:25

spending and the difference. And

10:25

then you went through there and

10:28

you say, Well, my rent, I pay

10:28

rent, and it's like, $800 a

10:32

month. So you put in Haiti on

10:32

their doors, my utilities, well,

10:35

I got electric, and last month,

10:35

it was 75 bucks. So you put in

10:40

$75, and then you went down the

10:40

line. And you really don't know

10:46

what your true costs are. And

10:46

then you did a budget and you're

10:50

way out of whack. And you saw

10:50

others say working, is not

10:53

working, because your starting

10:53

numbers weren't correct.

10:58

He didn't use or maybe it was

10:58

good that month. But then went

11:03

from fall to winter. And your

11:03

utilities changed, because now

11:08

you're paying more because

11:08

you're eating more. So a one up,

11:13

he didn't use a good average. So

11:13

now your numbers are off. He's

11:17

the one was budgets not working.

11:17

It's not doing anything for me.

11:22

Because you started backwards.

11:22

He started at the end, and

11:26

you're trying to work your way

11:26

towards the front. Forward, you

11:30

started with the end result, and

11:30

you're trying to get to what's

11:36

causing that. And you have no

11:36

clue. Because

11:41

one, you never tracked anything

11:41

to the the things that are

11:47

different every time you pay for

11:47

him, you don't have an average,

11:51

you don't have a good average,

11:51

because that's always getting

11:54

updated over time. Because

11:54

things go up things go down.

12:00

Season might be some seasonal

12:00

you spend more or less. There's

12:05

all kinds of things that affect

12:05

it. That's why I say use four

12:10

months, five months figure in

12:10

average for your groceries for

12:14

your gasoline for your car, once

12:14

you know what you've been doing

12:18

in the past. Now you can look for ways to

12:21

save money. Well, every time I

12:26

go to the gas station I fill up

12:26

and I go there every week no

12:31

matter what. Sometimes I get a

12:31

quarter of a tank sometimes I

12:35

get a half a tank, sometimes I

12:35

get a three quarters of a tank

12:39

and instead of putting all your

12:39

money into the gas tank, this is

12:43

how I think How far are you

12:43

gonna drive and then next week,

12:49

how many miles What's your

12:49

mileage per gallon on your

12:52

vehicle about how many gallons

12:52

are you gonna use and then add

12:57

those many that many gallons

12:57

plus one or two more that way

13:00

you have a little extra how I put in $30 instead of $70

13:03

Don't put all your money in your

13:09

gas tank. I only put in enough

13:09

gas in the car to keep it at

13:14

least a half a tank. I don't

13:14

spend a whole lot of money here

13:19

because I'd like fill up the car

13:19

it might be a month before I

13:22

fill up again because while I

13:22

don't go to work no more I'm

13:25

retired. I don't have to go

13:25

anywhere. In fact, today I have

13:31

a flat tire and I can't even go

13:31

get a new tire because nobody

13:35

stalks these things. I have to

13:35

wait till next Tuesday. So I got

13:39

that donut tire on my car that

13:39

you knowing supposed to put 50

13:45

miles on his hurry got 150 miles

13:45

on it from the last time I had a

13:49

flat tire. I don't know. I like

13:49

to plan ahead for hitting new

13:54

tires. But I hit a pothole and

13:54

without tire some things you

14:00

can't control. And then your

14:00

number two is leaving out

14:04

expenses we already talked about

14:04

that don't forget insurance

14:07

payments, all the different

14:07

types of insurance, home

14:10

repairs, even if you don't do it

14:10

on a regular basis. Put a number

14:15

there on your home repairs and

14:15

maintenance $50 A month

14:21

$10 A month whatever account for

14:21

it. You don't have to spend it

14:26

but put a number there case when

14:26

you do something and have an

14:31

expense in that category. You

14:31

already have it covered.

14:35

Me see annual subscriptions

14:35

school tuitions and fee holiday

14:40

shopping. Membership Dues those

14:40

things are due on the regular

14:44

day holiday shopping you know is

14:44

in the fall for the holiday

14:48

schools is September August, you

14:48

know maybe three times a year.

14:54

membership dues are annual that

14:54

they could be throughout the

14:58

year because there's whenever use lined up. And the third problem

15:00

here is not tracking spending,

15:04

which we're starting with that

15:04

you didn't have to guess on your

15:08

costs, you're not leaving out

15:08

any major expenses, because

15:11

you're been tracking. Don't forget savings.

15:16

Plan for your savings, I that's

15:16

one of the needs, you need to

15:20

set aside money on a regular

15:20

basis for your emergency fund.

15:24

And if you have too much in

15:24

emergency fund, that's okay.

15:29

You don't have to spend it, the

15:29

more you have, the better off

15:33

you're gonna be. And if you're

15:33

trying to pay off debt, the more

15:36

you have, the faster you can

15:36

accumulate it, the quicker that

15:39

debt is going to be reduced. And

15:39

don't be overly restricted. Down

15:45

back your discretionary spending

15:45

can be necessary if you

15:48

experience a financial

15:48

emergency, living beyond your

15:53

means or grape. And with that,

15:53

but as a long term spending

15:58

plan, sticking to a budget

15:58

that's too strict, usually isn't

16:02

sustainable. In fact, it has the

16:02

opposite effect and drive you to

16:06

overspend. Instead, set

16:06

realistic spending limits,

16:11

aiming to strike a balance

16:11

between living within your means

16:15

and train yourself. From time to

16:15

time. The way I've been talking

16:20

about budgeting is we're setting

16:20

up the budget dollar amounts it

16:25

what it actually cost, yeah. I'm

16:25

not saying, okay, my rent is

16:31

$800 a month, but I'm going to

16:31

set up a budget, and I'm going

16:35

to save some money I'm gonna

16:35

make at $500 a month, how's that

16:39

gonna work because your rent

16:39

still gonna be 800 a month,

16:41

you're not saving anything,

16:41

because you still got to spend

16:44

$800 a month and might look good

16:44

on your budget. But it's not

16:49

gonna happen. Set your budget to

16:49

what the actual costs are. And

16:54

the actual costs aren't what you

16:54

are actually paying. That gives

17:00

you the best, clearest picture

17:00

for whatever. Now, once you

17:05

know, how much are you spending

17:05

on a regular basis, maybe one

17:09

month, two months, three months.

17:09

Now look for ways to reduce some

17:14

of those costs. How can you

17:14

reduce your utilities? Well, in

17:19

my case, I bought a programmable

17:19

thermostat and I went I will not

17:24

home, I lower the temperature

17:24

down for AC and heating. When

17:30

I'm home, I bump it bumps up a

17:30

little bit. And then for AC at

17:34

night, when it gets dark, I rise

17:34

set it even lower the cooler

17:39

house down but I let it get

17:39

warmer during the day. So the AC

17:43

not running a whole lot when

17:43

everybody else's AC is running.

17:48

That's how I control my electric

17:48

bill. Same thing was my gas

17:51

bills. I got new windows

17:51

installed double pane that was

17:55

the best thing I ever did. But

17:55

it was the last thing I did. The

17:58

first thing I did was put

17:58

insulation in the attic. All

18:02

these little things you can do

18:02

to help you save money in the

18:05

long run is what you got to do

18:05

and how you think about thanks.

18:11

I want quit paying for cable TV,

18:11

I want to streaming services I

18:16

got I've been on streaming so

18:16

long on grandfather in on the

18:20

lowest price per month on one of the services and as

18:23

long as I don't cancel it, I

18:26

still got that. And it's got

18:26

everything I watch.

18:30

Everything I watch except for

18:30

sports, and news, I could care

18:34

less about the news sports I

18:34

watch on over the air. If you

18:39

have cable TV and you're paying

18:39

extra for your local channels,

18:43

you're stupid, cancel that

18:43

service, get an antenna and get

18:48

it for free. Don't pay for

18:48

something when you can get it

18:52

for free. Another big mistake is

18:52

planning around gross pay. So

18:58

you know that you make 20 bucks

18:58

an hour and you work 80 hours a

19:04

week. So you 20 times 80 is zero

19:04

$1,600 He can't spend $1,600 in

19:12

your budget. Because what's

19:12

happening, they're gonna take

19:17

taxes out. Maybe they're taken

19:17

out health insurance, making

19:21

they're taken out some child

19:21

support, maybe something else.

19:26

Maybe you're making donations to

19:26

local charity. You need to plan

19:31

your budget on your net pay the

19:31

amount of money that gets

19:35

deposited into your checking

19:35

account as the easiest way to

19:40

save it. You cannot spend what's

19:40

not in there. If it never makes

19:45

it to your checking account. You

19:45

can't spend it you can't budget

19:48

for it. If you're married or have a

19:49

significant other, you need to

19:54

work as a team. He can't do this

19:54

independently. He has to work

19:58

together because may Maybe one of you is trying to

20:00

save and controller spending,

20:05

but the other one is not, and

20:05

they're just keep on going, you

20:08

only doing it halfway, it's not

20:08

gonna work, you got to work

20:12

together. And you have to work

20:12

as a team. And you have to agree

20:16

to everything, it may cause some

20:16

problems at first, but in black

20:21

and white, you put it down on

20:21

paper, and you got 10 credit

20:24

cards, and you're 5000 or more

20:24

on 10 different credit cards,

20:28

it's pretty simple. He got way

20:28

too much debt, and something's

20:32

got to stop, we're first thing

20:32

is quit using those credit

20:35

cards, which if you can't use a

20:35

credit card, and you don't have

20:40

the money in your checking

20:40

account, because you got to pay

20:42

all those credit card bills,

20:42

then you got to stop spending.

20:46

Be back in one moment with my

20:46

final thoughts.

20:51

If you're interested in learning

20:51

about an online software that

20:55

helped myself get out of debt,

20:58

it does tracking, budgeting, and

20:58

keeps track of all your assets

21:03

and all your debt. It even tells

21:03

you how much and when to

21:08

transfer money into your savings

21:08

account, and how much and when

21:13

to transfer money to your debt,

21:13

and which debts to pay off in

21:17

order. First, it's not cheap.

21:17

It's a one time payment. But it

21:23

will definitely be an

21:23

investment, something and

21:27

yourself and an investment in

21:27

your personal financial life. If

21:33

you're interested, send me an

21:33

email at reduce debt increase

21:39

[email protected]. And I'll send

21:39

you the information about this

21:45

online software that worked

21:45

great for me. Okay, now you know

21:50

that you're doing things the

21:50

correct way you're doing your

21:54

tracking first. And you're

21:54

keeping that up to date, it is

21:59

important that every time you do

21:59

an update to your budget, you

22:05

have your tracking information,

22:05

completely up to date. And

22:11

everything reconciles to your

22:11

checking account, your savings

22:15

account that every credit card

22:15

statement, that doesn't have to

22:20

be a paper statement, but your

22:20

online account to make sure that

22:24

you have everything entered and

22:24

the proper dollar amount. And

22:30

even that you have him in the

22:30

correct categories. When you're

22:35

doing a budget, I find that you

22:35

don't want to put a whole lot of

22:39

detail into it, you want to keep

22:39

it pretty basic housing, the

22:45

only thing you want under

22:45

housing is your mortgage

22:48

payment, maybe one one line mortgage payment,

22:50

and that would be all your

22:53

mortgage payments. If you have a

22:53

line of credit and a first

22:56

mortgage or two more, whatever

22:56

should be one number, or you can

23:01

break them out each individual

23:01

loan might be better. That way

23:04

you can match them up. If a loan

23:04

or dollar amount changes, you'll

23:08

see that if you have a line of

23:08

credit, it could change with

23:12

interest rates going up, or your

23:12

balance coming down. Your

23:18

utilities could be one number,

23:18

or you could break it out by

23:23

each individual utility. If you

23:23

keep it one number, you can get

23:27

the detail in your tracking app.

23:27

So you really don't need it in

23:31

your budget app, you just need

23:31

that one number that you can

23:36

print off from your tracking app

23:36

maintenance, everything else car

23:41

car loans, gas, you don't have

23:41

to put each individual

23:45

transaction in your budget,

23:45

you're just putting a total

23:49

dollar amount for a given period

23:49

of time. So the simpler you can

23:55

keep it the easier it's gonna be

23:55

to update. And I'll give you a

24:00

quick response. So let's say

24:00

that you have a couple of months

24:05

done and you're entered in and

24:05

you're in your food category,

24:09

and you put in your current

24:09

results for the first three

24:13

weeks of the particular month.

24:13

And you're way over budget,

24:16

you're way over. And you know

24:16

that you used an average for two

24:20

or three months and you're still

24:20

way over. But you have to thank

24:23

you. So what has happened? Why

24:23

is that the case? Is there a

24:28

holiday for you spend more money

24:28

or food? Would somebody visit?

24:32

Yeah. Or did you go on vacation

24:32

where you ate out more? If

24:36

there's a reason of what

24:36

happened? You probably already

24:39

know it. But if not, you can go

24:39

back to your tracking app, look

24:45

at the detail for that category.

24:45

And and find out where you've

24:48

gone wrong. Maybe you went out

24:48

to eat four days in a row where

24:54

your budget is only doing once a

24:54

week. So you're starting to fall

24:58

in the old habits so you You need you caught it. Now you

25:00

need to fix it by not doing it

25:05

anymore. But over time your

25:05

dollar amounts are going to

25:09

change on the Mount you're using

25:09

for your budgeted amount. So you

25:14

started out and over the first

25:14

three months is pretty close.

25:19

But over that same period of

25:19

time, you've been cutting back

25:23

on your spending, you've been

25:23

finding the way to reduce your

25:26

costs on your utilities may be

25:26

changing your, your cable TV

25:33

subscriptions, and maybe

25:33

canceled some stuff, and now is

25:37

starting to flow through. So now

25:37

you're spending a whole lot

25:40

less, we need to look at the

25:40

actual based on what you

25:45

budgeted amount, which is the

25:45

match should be an average of

25:49

your actual spending. And if

25:49

your actuals gone down for a

25:53

month, change the budget amount

25:53

to reflect your new actual,

25:59

because you don't need the

25:59

budget for something you're not

26:01

going to spend. In this particular case. Now, if

26:03

you're have home maintenance,

26:09

you may be budgeting for

26:09

something you're not spending.

26:12

But that's just so you have it

26:12

covered. Because you never know

26:15

when you need to go out and buy

26:15

some light bulbs or a breaker

26:19

for your fuse box or a new plug

26:19

for something, you know, it's

26:25

ongoing process. So keeping

26:25

everything as current as

26:30

possible is number one, and

26:30

updating your budgeted dollar

26:35

amounts is number two, so that

26:35

they reflect your current

26:40

expenses, the more accurate you

26:40

are, the better off you're gonna

26:44

be Deacon sleep at night, you'll

26:44

know I'm gonna transfer $200 my

26:50

savings account. And you know

26:50

that you're not gonna have to

26:54

transfer any of it back into

26:54

your checking account to cover

26:57

an expense because you have

26:57

everything covered. You've

27:00

accounted for everything, you

27:00

know, everything that's going

27:03

on. Now, maybe occasionally in

27:03

the first year, something might

27:07

pop up that you've forgotten

27:07

about. Okay, well add it to your

27:11

budget. Now you know about it?

27:11

Is it something you're still

27:14

using? Or is it something you're

27:14

not using? Remember, if you

27:20

bought a new computer, your

27:20

subscriptions to move to that

27:23

new computer, you don't have to

27:23

buy a new subscription, he can

27:26

just take it off the old one and

27:26

put it on the new one. Maybe you

27:30

still have computers allowed

27:30

where he can add it. Because you

27:33

still you're allowed to have up

27:33

to five computers, but you only

27:36

have three cover. Now you got

27:36

four, that when you get rid of

27:40

the old one, you can take it off

27:40

that or so that the program

27:47

knows that you no longer using

27:47

that computer. Whatever the case

27:50

you have to do, I don't know I

27:50

don't really remember.

27:54

But you get an appoint. You're

27:54

always reviewing, you're keeping

27:58

everything up to date, you're

27:58

reviewing your budget, as some

28:02

numbers are looking crazy

28:02

wherever your actual is way

28:05

lower, or way higher, then you

28:05

need to investigate and figure

28:10

out what happened. Maybe it's

28:10

lower because you reduce some

28:15

spending and you need to lower

28:15

your budget $1 amount, maybe his

28:18

way higher because of an event

28:18

that happened. The holidays for

28:22

example, or a vacation or some

28:22

visitors something out of the

28:29

norm has happened and you spent

28:29

more money in that particular

28:32

category, which is fine. That's

28:32

called life.

28:38

Keep your budget under control

28:38

up to date and you'll be much

28:43

better off on your personal

28:43

finances and you'll be glad you

28:46

did so