Budgeting is one of the best and quickest routes to getting out of debt. Many persons may cringe when they hear the word “budget” because they swear that budgeting is only for financial wizards or for those who have lots of money to spend. On the contrary, budgeting is the tool that financially successful persons use to organize and structure their finances so that they manage their money wisely instead of having their money manage them. One of the keys to getting out of debt is creating and sticking to a realistic budget. Here is how budgeting can help you to get out of debt.

Budgeting Eliminates or Reduces Impulse Spending

One of the easiest ways to get into debt is to spend impulsively. You go into the department store, spot a nice pair of shoes that screams out your name very loudly, and the next thing you know is that you’re walking out of the store with a brand, new pair of shoes that you could not afford to purchase. But you purchased it anyway because after all, that’s what credit cards are for, right? Wrong! It is this type of impulse spending that puts many persons deep in debt. If you had a budget, you would know immediately that you don’t have the money to spend on that gorgeous new pair of shoes and you would have walked away from debt. That is the power of a realistic budget.

Budgeting Ensures that You Spend on What’s Important

People often get into debt because they mindlessly spend money on things that are not necessary or important. Things that they could very well do without. Then when they have splurged, they realize that there is not enough money left to cover the utilities or the car payments. Then what do they do? Pay for those things with their handy dandy credit card. Or they take a loan. And what does that spell? D-E-B-T! A budget will ensure that you spend whatever you have more wisely, covering all the essential items first and so avoiding the need to get into further debt.

A Budget Provides a Financial Road Map

Unfortunately some persons have no sense of financial direction. So, they turn left when they really should turn right and then they end up getting lost. This is because they refuse to use a financial map. A budget is a financial map that guides our spending. It tells us exactly how much we should spend in any particular area and where exactly our money is going every day. A budget forces us to make wiser financial decisions so that we don’t get lost in debt. If our budget says that we have only $100 to spend on groceries each week, then we know that if we spend more than that, we will very likely get lost in debt. So, to avoid getting lost financially, we need to use a budget.