About Movie

Switching from heedless spending to a controlled, budgeted way of life is really not easy. If people say it is easy, they are lying - whether they really mean to lie or not. However, the reason why people think budget living is easy is simple - after a while, it becomes a matter of habit. You do not stop to look into the video game parlor, you automatically reach for the drugstore brand of lipstick, and you get used to chipping away at debts and having a little in your account with every passing month.

Here is how to begin -

1. Chart your income. Look at the average income you have had over the past three months. Income includes wages and salaries, business income, tips, pocket money and even one-off payments for casual jobs such as cleaning your neighbor's pool. If you had an income spike in one month, try to figure out what caused it - did you put in more overtime, extend better service, find an extra job, or an extra one-off assignment? Would you look for sporadic spikes in your income, or stick to a steady salary and opt for regular income increases?

2. Chart your expenditure. Take a month to do this, as it is impossible to remember every penny you spent over the past thirty days. From the half-dollar you toss into the homeless man's hat to your Internet and credit card bill, chart it all. Do not skimp too much on this first month, as it may backfire spectacularly if you try and stick to it for too long. Spend as you usually do, although you may begin to reduce your spending automatically as you notice the dollars flowing out of your bank account.

Simply charting, of course, is not enough. At the end of the month, make a total of how much you have spent on each item. How much did you spend at Starbucks, at the movies, on dates, on cigarettes and alcohol? Did you hire a cab when you could have taken a bus, or buy an expensive T-shirt that wasn't really necessary? Also, have you been eating out when you could perfectly well cook at home or purchase a frozen meal? It is quite easy to consider all our habits to be "essential" expenses. The sad truth is that most of them are not.

Ideally, you should be saving at least 20% of your income - possibly to buy a car, go for higher education or buy a home later on. With times being what they are, job security is at an all-time low, and you never know when savings might come in handy. So if your spending is just within your total income, it's time to pull up your socks and consider curtailing expenses. Carpools, home-cooked food, rented DVDs and dates at home can be a great way to cut costs without much inconvenience. Once you learn to love yourself, your home and your life as they are, you will find yourself needing to dent your pockets with retail "therapy" much less often.