{"id":546,"date":"2018-10-26T15:33:26","date_gmt":"2018-10-26T20:33:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/chikchikchicken.com\/?p=546"},"modified":"2019-05-31T13:48:14","modified_gmt":"2019-05-31T18:48:14","slug":"nest-egg-blog-on-budgeting-and-saving","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chikchikchicken.com\/index.php\/2018\/10\/26\/nest-egg-blog-on-budgeting-and-saving\/","title":{"rendered":"Nest Egg-Blog on Budgeting and Saving"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Have your heard the term “building a nest egg”? It’s not just for chickens.<\/h1>\n

This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Affiliate, I may earn money from qualifying purchases.<\/em><\/h6>\n

It wasn\u2019t until my late 40s that I really started budgeting. I\u2019ve always been pretty good with money. I started working at 15 and bought my first house four years later. I don\u2019t have a financial degree but whenever possible I\u2019ve attended financial classes, webinars and always paid close attention when our 401K advisor did his yearly in-service.<\/p>\n

When our boys had moved out of the house with only our daughter at home, I was feeling pretty comfortable with our financial situation. The reality of being half way through our careers made me realize it was time to re-evaluate our budget. I wanted to put more money into my 401K and also build up our short-term savings. My oldest son was really into budgeting and sent me a spreadsheet to get started.<\/p>\n

Did you know that only 30% of couples budget consistently, which means seven out of ten people aren\u2019t. More than 75% of people live paycheck to paycheck and only 1\/3 of people can pay for an emergency expense of $1000 without using their credit card.<\/p>\n

If you fall into one of these statistics, it\u2019s okay. You can make a change today.<\/p>\n

First, identify what your goals are<\/h4>\n

Do you want to get out of debt? Save more for retirement? Put money aside for a vacation? Or maybe just not live paycheck to paycheck?<\/p>\n

\"Evaluate<\/p>\n

To get started, you need to determine where your money is going. if you aren\u2019t using a checkbook program or budget app, you\u2019ll have to go through your bank account and credit card statements. I recommend at least one month to evaluate your spending habits, but three months would really give you a better picture.<\/p>\n

Break down your purchases into categories.<\/p>\n

Here are the ones I use:<\/p>\n