Why You Need A Financial Calendar

You are financially responsible and stick to your budget every month. You still need help for some months when more significant expenses appear.

Some months, you budgeted in vain. Your income can't keep up with your expenses, making them more challenging than other months.

The Issue with Budgets

When you make a budget, you plan for the day-to-day activities in your life. It's short-term and an excellent way to make sure you take control of your money. But a budget does not account for everything.

Since it is a short-term view of your finances, it only considers those monthly expenses and ignores more rare significant payments.

In the same way, you get excited and start pre-planning when you know a considerable amount of money is coming in; your brain goes into dial mode when you know that you need to pay off something more extensive. That is unless you plan for it!

How can you fix this problem?

A financial calendar is your long-term view of your finances. In the same way, a budget is supposed to make your life easier; your calendar should enhance that.

It considers those bigger yearly recurring expenses you tend to shy away from. Then helps you to work them into your monthly budget so you don't need to suffer from roller coaster months.

It helps you keep your finances more balanced from month to month and keeps you prepared for expenses you can already foresee in the future.

Preparing your Financial Calendar

Don't worry; preparing a financial calendar is a piece of cake.

All you need to do is sit down and write down those more significant expenses you must pay over a year.

These can be things like getting your license renewed, renewing your home, business, and vehicle insurance policies, tuition payments, and the vacations you are planning.

Ensure you know when they are due and the total amount or a close enough estimate of the amount you need.

Once you have these on paper, working them into your budget is more effortless.

Incorporating your Financial
Calendar into Your Budget

You note in your financial calendar that you must pay tuition fees of $1000 in June. You make your calendar in January, meaning that you have six months to come up with the money from when you make it to when it's due.

Instead of paying the entire $1000 from your June paycheck and living a 'maga' month in June, break it down into six small payments.

Every month, from January to June, you can save 150 dollars for tuition. Add it into your budget until it becomes due, and don't think twice about it.

Then you will already have $750 to put towards it in June. Instead of taking out $1000 from your budget, you only need to take out $250. You are balancing out your months even more.

You do this for all those expenses you know will appear throughout the year. You have the option of bundling them together; however, make sure you group them by their due dates if you bundle them.

Are you starting to get an idea of how a financial calendar can help you to plan better for the future expenses that you will have?

The Challenge
Although we are already in the middle of the year, there is still time to start using a financial calendar. So I challenge you to make one for the remainder of the year and try it out. See if it helps you to plan better for those Christmas gifts at the end of the year.