Written by: Ben Riek
You probably have been told that you should start budgeting your money, but you probably do not know what it means. Budgeting is the most effective way to manage your money. There are so many methods for a person to utilize. Nonetheless, there are people that don’t take advantage of it. Any student in high school should realize that money should be spent when it is absolutely necessary. If someone is careless and doesn’t create themselves a budget, there will be consequences they would need to be ashamed of, with debt being one of them. In order for that not to happen, the student must keep their finances on track.
Here is how you can budget your money:
1. Calculate how much you’ve been spending by looking into your bank statements
2. Figure out your income (This includes what you make at your job, and also cash gifts you may receive once a year)
3. Set your savings and debt payoff goals (Cut your spending and track down how much you are spending every week)
4. Stick to your budget for most of the time (If you wing your budget at rare times, it’s okay)
5. Not only would you want to budget your money to save more, but you also can invest in your retirement as early as possible so you can live a happy retirement with frequent compound returns.
Next, a pie chart displays what percentage of Americans are using a budget. Please take a look below:
https://www.simpletuition.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/americans-that-use-a-budget.jpg
According to the pie, not a lot of Americans like to budget their money. The repercussion is that much more money is being spent every day because of how many Americans that do not want to take advantage of budgeting their money. By solving this problem, we as Americans can lower the orange side of the pie, and raise the blue side of the pie, and therefore, we can save a whole lot of money.
https://mk0zezosobuapu92jg73.kinstacdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Personal-Finance-Statistics_Spending-Chart.jpg
Americans must not only be conscious about who is or isn’t utilizing a budget, but they should also understand how a typical American is budgeting. From the chart, an average American citizen budgets their money the most on housing, and less on Education. Housing is an important part of everyone’s life. A lot of possessions at home matter the most because there are human beings that get a lot of attention that way. Then there’s education, which has the lowest percentage. Many parents send their children to public schools. And when a parent sends their children to a public school, the government is in charge of paying for education. But why is there a percent for education? Since the mid 19th century, countries have started to expand primary education through public finances and government intervention. So the government isn’t everything to cover for education. The public is involved as well. The public supports school districts and private schools through property taxes. With Pewaukee being a school district that the community supports the most, property taxes are expected to rise, and likely affect the statistics of budgeting because the referendum of 2018 was mostly agreed upon at election.
In Conclusion, all Americans must be aware that spending too much money could make themselves bankrupt. To avoid debt, Americans must keep themselves aware of their spending statements, and budget the rightful amount of money they can spend throughout the day. There are currently more than 50% of Americans that don’t budget their money, and by being aware of what is being spent is necessary because it avoids dept. Understanding how an American budgets, the average American budgets the highest on household, and less on education. Households matter more to homeowners, and a government can typically spend more for education. However, the Public is vital along with the government because the Government cannot always be spending more on education, and community support helps a lot with public schools.
Works Cited:
“5 Simple Steps to Create a Successful Budget.” Payoff Life, 17 Apr. 2018, www.payoff.com/life/money/5-simple-steps-to-create-a-successful-budget/.“Budgeting for College Students.” SimpleTuition, www.simpletuition.com/managing-finances/budgeting/.
“Personal Finance Statistics: How Do You Compare?” Debt.com, Debt.com, LLC, 7 Oct. 2019, https://www.debt.com/statistics/.
Roser, Max, and Esteban Ortiz-Ospina. “Financing Education.” Our World in Data, 22
June 2016, ourworldindata.org/financing-education.
“What Is Budgeting? What Is a Budget?” What Is Budgeting and Why Is It Important? | My Money Coach, https://www.mymoneycoach.ca/budgeting/what-is-a-budget-planning-forecasting.
It's incredible to me how little people care about the money they expend. The fact that less than 50% of people budget their money is such a small number in comparison to what it should be. This topic is extremely relevant to us now as we are planning on going to college and have to keep in mind all of the things (not even counting tuition) that we'll have to pay for. Food, clothes, room & board, and all the school supplies and dorm-room decorations, PLUS daily living expenses. These things all add up which is why I agree with you and your budgeting philosophy. Managing money isn't hard, just tedious, but putting time into things that directly effect us, like the money we spend, is so so important.
ReplyDeleteI don’t have a budget but I’ve been subconsciously following one only spending money on things that I need most like food and entertainment. But now that you’ve brought this to my attention I’ll be better off because of it now I’ll think about what do I really need and what I want to have for some reason or another.
ReplyDeleteI agree that learning how to budget money is essential. It’s good to get into these habits now, and at this age, so it will come easy when our finances our amplified. Looking at the pie chart, it’s concerning to see only 32% of Americans have a working budget, which means most of the population is uninformed about budgeting properly and the benefits of budgeting. I also realize that a portion of the 68% that don’t have a working budget, may not be able to create one due to the fact that they are living paycheck to paycheck. Nevertheless, these budgeting tips and the benefits of budgeting should be taught at this developmental stage in life so that as we get older we make things easier on ourselves.
ReplyDeleteIt's crazy how only 32% of Americans have a working budget! It's ironic how budgeting is emphasized so much, yet the majority of people don't take the time to create one. Thank you for laying out the process of creating a budget step-by-step because it was very easy to follow and understand. I sure hope that more Americans begin creating budgets because then, more individuals will be happy with their finances and ultimately have a better quality of life.
ReplyDeleteThanks for writing this article Ben! It is really applicable, and crazy how little people think about all the money they spend even though it is a huge part of our lives. I found it interesting that only 2.3% of the average American's budget goes to education because so many people have student loans and debt due to college that they have to pay off. If people listen to this advice and really acknowledge all that they spend their money on, their needs and their wants, it can be really beneficial. Even just by thinking about what wants you are currently spending money on can cause you to consider if it is really worth it. Great article!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for this detailed reply, Molly! This was the most vital topic of Finance class that I ever had to write for a blog. I do really think that budgeting is the correct way to save up on money so no one would have to pay off debt and loans.
DeleteThis post is really helpful because were all starting to have to go off into the world after graduation. The step by step budget will be helpful when planning for the future and will definitely help in the coming years.
ReplyDeleteThis was a really good topic to discuss since we are in high school and we most likely spend our money on unnecessary goods, I know I definitely have! I also think that it is relevant to us because all of the seniors are getting ready to go off to college and are definitely going to have to learn to budget our money. I really liked how you brought up ways on how you can budget the money to help the readers out.
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DeleteThank you so much for your reply, Abby! This was the most vital topic of Finance class that I ever had to write for a blog. I do really think that budgeting is the correct way to save up on money so no one would have to pay off debt and loans.
DeleteI love how your blog post is very simple to read and contains so much valuable information within it! Its crazy how people can spend so much money. I agree that having a budget is so very important to prevent going in debt, its a good habit to get into; saving your money and keeping track from where it is going. Looking at the pie graph you added, I was very surprised to see that the amount of money spent on education was only 2.3%, I would've thought this would of been much higher with students attending college, paying off loans and other expenses such as books for classes. I was also surprised that only 32% of Americans have a budget. Good job Ben!
ReplyDeleteI am appalled on how many people are reluctant to find a suitable budget plan for their financial needs. I find it tremendously astonishing that only 32% of Americans have a working budget for them. It is interesting on how high school students do not take advantage of working and saving money for at-least 2 years, it is the best way for them to be ahead and be less in debt. Great work Ben!
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DeleteI'm glad you implemented steps to take in order to budget your money, and you made it very concise and easy to read. Budgeting your money is extremely beneficial, and just like a lot of things, there is no harm in starting early. In fact, starting early is the best option as you already will have money saved up. The implementations of the pie chart help as well, as you can clearly see just how many Americans budget their money and keep track. It's crazy to think that only 32% of Americans are budgeting their money in an effective way. By having this blog post, it spreads awareness of the issue and lets people know that they need to be on top of their game if they want to save up money for the future. Americans need to do something fast. I'm glad that you made a blog post calling out the issue and letting people know the benefits of budgeting and the steps they need to take.
ReplyDeleteI think this is a super important topic to discuss and bring to people's attention, especially giving the pie chart that you showed. While I assumed that the majority of people probably don't use a budget, I had no idea that this number was 68%! I think that one factor behind this is that a lot of people just don't really know how or where to start. I think its very helpful that you outlined the steps on how someone can create a budget, as this could help fix this problem!
ReplyDeleteI find it interesting how few Americans have a budget and how that can be related to the consumerism culture here. This is something that applies to all of us, and I think that you providing reasons as to why we should budget will help us budget. I also like that you added tips to help us budget. This is something that is helpful to a lot of people.
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