You know what it is. That's right. It's time to talk money with your money nerd and financial coach. Now tighten those purse strings and open those ears. It's the money talk with Tiff podcast. Hey, everyone, and welcome to another episode of Tiffany's Take, where I answer your money questions right here on the podcast. If you would like your question answered, just go to www.moneytalkwitht.com axtiffany, and I'll be more than happy to answer for you. So for
today's episode, someone sent in a question and said, help. I got off track with my budget. How can I recover now? I wanted to cover this question at this time because it's the first of the month, and so this is the perfect time to restart. If you ever get off track. Now, even if it's not the first of the month, it's fine. You can pretty much restart at any time. But I do usually personally take those opportunities when it's the first to recalibrate
if I need to. And we've all been there. You know, one day you're tracking every penny, and before you know it, life throws you a curveball. You have a surprise expense, a spontaneous purchase, or just the everyday drift from your laid out plans. It's completely normal. And the good news is, getting back on track is entirely within your reach. So let's go ahead and hop right into it. I know personally, I've restarted my budget multiple times.
And honestly, one of the things that gets me off track is when I get a windfall, because I was like, ooh, money. And I want to do this and I want to do that and I want to do this. I do plan out what I want to do with the money. But then after I take care of everything that I planned out, then sometimes I start drifting in my spending instead of sticking to the basics, the budget. So, anywho, that brings me into my first step, which is to
reflect and understand. So first things first. Just take a deep breath. Give yourself a little grace. It happens all the time, and they can happen for a myriad of reasons. Understand why you strayed away from your budget, like, what caused these unexpected expenses. So ask yourself a couple of questions. Was it an impulsive decision, or did an unforeseen event throw you off course? And ask yourself, have your priorities or circumstances changed in a way that requires
adjusting to your budget? Because that's another thing that happens, too. Sometimes people get off track with their budget, but it's because they never updated it to their current life situation. And so they're using an old budget to live their new life. Understanding the why equips you with the insight to create a more resilient plan moving forward. So you definitely want to take this step seriously and really be real with yourself. Why did I get off
track? Step two, reassess your budget so now's the time to sit down with your budget. If you don't have one, that's okay. This is the perfect moment to start. Your budget should be a reflection of your current financial situation and your priorities. So consider any changes in your income, expenses, or goal. So first things first. List your income sources. Know exactly what's coming in to track your expenses, so categorize them into essentials
and non essentials. I have a whole blog article on how to craft a budget, and I'll make sure I'll put that link in the show notes. And then also make sure you're setting real less real. And then also make sure that you're setting realistic goals. So think about short term savings and then also think about long term saving. And I have a playlist for goal setting that I made with different podcast episodes. I'll make sure I put that in the
show notes as well. So if you need help with the goal setting piece, definitely check out that playlist. So remember that a budget isn't a set of chains, but rather a roadmap to financial freedom. I tell my audience all the time, think of your budget as giving you permission to do the things that you want to do, not restricting you. Because if anybody has dieted like me, then you know that if you try to restrict yourself, you are not going to stick to it. So think of it as giving
you permission to live your best life. And that's how I look at it, and it has been working awesome for me. So next you want to do step three, which is implement a recovery plan. So with your updated budget outline, a recovery plan. This might include cutting unnecessary expenses. So maybe temporarily reduce your non essential spending. If you feel like you're barely making or you want to move that money to another category, you can
start cutting out unnecessary expenses. One thing that I do every month is a subscription audit. I'm actually probably going to do it today since we're at the first of the month. But figure out what is it that I'm paying for that I don't use, so that way I can start cutting those expenses. Because the reason why everything has a subscription is because people forget to cancel it. And so the companies make a ton of money just on uncanceled subscriptions, so make sure you put that in as a practice
so that way you're not missing out on some of your money. Another thing you can do is increase your income, so maybe consider some side gigs, selling some unused items, asking for a raise. All of these things are really effective in developing a recovery plan if you get off track. Also, you might want to think about adjusting your savings contributions, so if you're doing really good, maybe you want to increase it. If you're not doing so well, maybe
you want to decrease it and it's okay. Keep in mind that a budget is a living, breathing document, and so it can change at any time based on your circumstances. So always, always, always keep track. Keep looking at it and making sure that you're on track for what you're trying to accomplish in that month. Also, I highly recommend maybe utilizing budgeting tools or apps. Technology can be a great ally in tracking your spending in progress. I use apps for pretty much everything in my
life. That's how I'm able to function. And one budgeting app that I highly recommend is ynab. I'll make sure I put a link in the show notes for that as well. You need a budget, and I like it because if you're in this situation where you get off track, they have a whole, like, you just have to click a button and it helps you walk through the process of restarting. So in ynab, since I've been using it for the past year or so, no, maybe about two
years, I've restarted my budget like three times. And it's okay. Their feature is called fresh start. So you can just click the fresh start button and it'll archive what you've done previously, and it'll make a new budget with all your information already pre filled from your old budget, but making it so you can start over. So highly recommend ynab. Definitely check it out. Step four, build an emergency fund.
So if you realize in step one that it was unexpected expenses that you off track, consider building an emergency fund to provide that safety net for you. So that way you won't be in that situation again. So start small, even if it's just a tiny percentage of your income or a set dollar amount each month. And then over time, aim for about three to six months worth of living expenses so that way you won't have to keep getting off track if something
comes up. You have something there for you now. For me, like when I hear people saying, oh, when you have money in a savings account, you know, you're not making any money on it. You need to invest it, blah, blah, blah. But I think they lose track or lose sight of what a emergency fund or Runway fund or savings account is really there for. It's there for liquidity. If you invest your money, you don't have that liquidity. You know, you still have to sell your
investments, you still have to wait for your withdrawal. You know, all of these different things. When you have a dedicated emergency fund or savings account, then you can pull that money whenever. You don't have to go through any extra steps, and it provides that safety net for you. So that's why I tell people you should always have some type of safety net that is not invested and that can look like an emergency fund. Now, I use Ally bank for mine. I love them.
They have the buckets feature where you can put different amounts in different buckets for different things, but it's all in one, one account. And then also, like at Ally bank, you want to look for a high yield savings account so that way you can get just more bang for your buck if the money is just going to sit there. When you look at the brick and mortar banks, they're only offering less than
1%. When you look at the high yield savings accounts that are available on online banks, they're offering four or 5%. So definitely want to check those out. Step five, embrace flexibility and forgiveness. So realize that life is unpredictable and your budget should be flexible enough to accommodate minor detours without derailing your financial well being. So practice forgiveness. Berating yourself over mistakes
only add stress, not solutions. We've talked multiple times on the podcast about negative autopilot and how that physiologically messes with your brain and doesn't allow you to think creatively. So make sure that. That you are not, you know, going down the negative autopilot route, you're staying positive. You're like, okay, I overspent. Cool, what are we doing to move forward? So give yourself grace. Practice forgiveness. It happens all the time, even me. Okay. And then step six, review
and adjust regularly. So make a habit of reviewing your budget and financial goals regularly. At least once a month, y'all. But, for instance, I do. I reconcile my budget once a day, and I'm in my budget it every day to make sure that I'm tracking everything. But if you don't want to do all that at least once a month, have your money date. That's what I call it. So whether it's with a significant other or just by yourself, because, you know, when we single we take ourselves out,
too. So just make sure that you have your money date. This not only helps you stay on track, but also allows you to adjust as your circumstances change. So celebrate the milestones, no matter how small, they're proof of your progress. I I know when I was starting out, I was grateful that I was able to save $25 in my retirement account, and I celebrated that because I'm like, oh, it's been a long time coming, you know, a month. So I was able to save $25 a month in my retirement
account. Definitely celebrate all those minor victories because it allows you to keep that momentum and keep you in that positive state of mind. So how do you avoid future detours? Of course. Mindful spending. Before making a purchase, ask yourself if it aligns with your goals. If it's an online purchase, I leave stuff in my cart, you know, at least 24 hours. Make sure I really want it. Start implementing things like
that. An emergency fund, we've already talked about that. But continue building this fund to cushion against unforeseen expenses and then financial education. That's why you're here. So the more you learn, the better equipped you'll be to make informed decisions, to get new ideas and make different moves with your money. So with all of that being said, slipping up is part of the journey. So don't feel bad. It happens to all of us. Just take it in stride. Use these
steps to get back on track and move forward. That's the only thing you can do. I was just having a conversation with someone over the weekend and I was like, you know, we stress ourselves out because we're either worrying about the past or worrying about the future. So keep yourself in the present so that way you can enjoy the moment. Be grateful for everything that you have. So with all of that being said, if you want your question answered on the podcast, go to www.moneytalkwitht.com x
tiffany and I'll be more than happy to answer for you. So until next time, be sure to check out the show notes because I'll have links to more resources there and everything that I mentioned in the episode. And also, please don't forget to rate, subscribe, review all those good things so other people can find this podcast as well. If you found it helpful, I would love to hear from you. Definitely go to the website moneytalkwitht.com and you'll see a contact
us. Please reach out to me. I answer pretty much all of my emails that I get in, except if it's spam. Don't spam me all, but I answer all of my listener emails. So I would love to hear from you even if you just like oh, I really like this episode. This was my favorite. It allows me to make more episodes like that. So thank you so much for listening and I hope you enjoy the rest of your Tuesday. Bye. Thank you for listening, joining and being a part of the Money talk with TIFF podcast this
week. You can check Tiff out every Thursday for a new Money talk podcast, but if you just can't wait until next week, you can listen to previous podcast [email protected] or follow TIFF on all social media platforms at moneytalkwitht. Until next time, spend wise by spending less than you make a word to the money wise is always sufficient.