To get the most out of your money, you need clearly defined goals and a budget plan that guides you in the right direction. When financial budget links are missing, money leaks or debt traps become roadblocks. How do you budget to fix the mess?

Start your plan with a simple outline. It should contain the five basic principles of money management.

1. Income: have a clear understanding of how much money you take home each month and where the rest of the check goes. Do you have enough taxes to go out? Do you have too much? How much goes to health? You can adjust your dependents to increase or decrease the amount of tax that comes out of each paycheck.

2. Save and invest: the early bird catches the worm. The sooner you start saving and investing, the longer your money will work. Start saving whatever amount you can now. Even if you can only manage $ 25 per month, something is better than nothing. Set up automatic transfers so you never miss out.

3. Protection: Emergency savings accounts will protect you. They will save you significant debt problems and prevent you from using alternative payday loans when your budget is out of balance. Protection also comes in the form of insurance. Do you have profitable insurance for your personal property? You don’t want to pay too much for something you don’t need coverage for, and you don’t want to skimp on big items. Talk to your insurance agent and get what you need at the best price. Don’t forget to get quotes from other agents. You may find that what you thought was the best deal didn’t give you everything you should have.

4. Spending money: are you getting the best deal? Could you do a better job of finding the best price or product if you take the time to research the product? Impulse buying not only buys you things you don’t really need, it also prevents you from finding the best price. Separate wants from needs. Buy what you need and prolong the desire. Let the purchase settle in your head for a week and then decide if you really want it. A lot of money is wasted on items we think we need and ends up in the back of the closet or on a shelf somewhere in the house.

5. Borrow money: friends, family, banks, creditors, and even cash advance lenders. can be used at any given time. Why did you borrow? Don’t extend your purchasing power with outside cash and keep track of what you spend. If you run out of cash each month, your spending behavior should change. It is not safe to let debt take over your income.

Once the outline is ready, the next step is the plan. What areas do you need more work? Something is missing? Don’t put off starting the plan. The sooner you start making changes, the faster you can save money each month. That savings will make the difference in whether or not you run your budget with or without flexibility. It will also give you more money each month for emergencies, larger purchases, or to build a more secure financial future. You may never need a quick cash advance again! No heavy credit card debt will open the door to lower interest rates for those times when you need to borrow money. Keep debt in your portfolio for a short period of time to keep those new low interest rates affordable.