Everyone wants to know how to do it, but only the few that actually take the time to master it will ever achieve greatness…

We have given you 5 of our 10 Pro Tips on how to make and keep a budget, and managing your budget effectively AND efficiently. If you haven’t yet jotted these ideas down in your planner or implemented them, head over to our first blog post to get the goods!

As promised, here are our final 5 Pro Tips for budgeting. Once you have these down, there’s nothing stopping you from becoming a Budget Master!

Pro Tip #6: Round Up!

My mom, in her infinite wisdom, taught me to round up when making any purchase. If a payment was $91.67, she would round to $95 (no, not $92). Prices in intervals of $5 make it easier to keep track of your budget items and ensures you have enough cushion around your purchase, even if it’s just a couple of bucks.

Pro Tip #7: Never Leave Home Without It

Carry your budget with you EVERYWHERE. When you are planning an event, a copy of your budget should stay with you, whether in your bag or on your phone. Then you can whip it out when you randomly see something on sale that you cannot pass up! You won’t have to wonder if it’s in your budget — you’ll know if you can afford it or not.

 

  

Pro Tip #8: Include Miscellaneous Items

Tape, glue, breath mints, pens, staples — these are miscellaneous items that you wouldn’t think to include in any category of your budget, but you should. Why? Because you’ll need them! And the larger your event, the longer your list becomes. You may not know what your miscellaneous items are until the week of your event, but include an estimated amount for them in your budget. I recommend that 3% of your event budget be allocated to miscellaneous items.

Pro Tip #9: Update Your Budget after Each Purchase

I am the Budget Queen, so this tip is near and dear to my heart. When creating budgets, I also create a budget to actual, which is a side by side comparison of your projected budget costs and your actual costs. After each purchase, I update the budget to include the actual cost of each item. This helps me monitor ACTUAL spending, tracking in real time whether I’m am under or over budget. Implementing this step in your budget process gives you the opportunity to make adjustments to your spending immediately if needed instead of waiting until the end of the purchase process when it’s too late.

Pro Tip #10: Put Funds on a Prepaid Card

This one is pretty simple but it will save your (planning) life! If you are using cash to purchase event items, transfer funds from your account to a prepaid card. Why? Because you can’t spend money you don’t have!

Budgeting is telling your money where to go instead of wondering where it went.