Everyone needs accessible everyday money, whether they spend it or not. It is necessary for that safety net as we go about daily activities. All the petty expenses we incur each day may not look like they add up too much. But a closer look will change that thought. Daily budgets help with that close look at how much goes in and out of our pockets. To avoid overspending, it is important to budget.

Budgeting is simply mapping out a plan for spending. It is allocating your income
proportionately to miscellaneous expenditure, savings etc. Budgets can be done daily, weekly, monthly or yearly. However, the focus here is daily budgets. Daily budget considers how much will be spent each day in one month.

Daily Budgeting is advantageous for the following reasons:

PLANNED SPENDING

Most adults use the money for purchases of products or services every day. It is only proactive to prepare for it. This is opposed to the usual habit of buying on impulse, things we may want but not need. Daily budgets would certainly discourage any unplanned spending.

ENCOURAGES SAVING HABITS

Budgeting a specific amount for daily use, does not mean you will spend all of it. On some days, you may not buy anything at all. Such unspent funds or change, can be rolled over as savings. Also, saving a portion of income for everyday use automatically means, there is another portion that can remains unused.

ACCOUNTABILITY

Since budgets are a form of records, a sense of responsibility can be formed when a daily budget is in place. A person operating with a daily budget will frequently account for all monies spent and be able to identify necessary adjustments that can be made. Your spending habits are more transparent for better decision making.

IMPROVED BUDGETING SKILLS FOR LARGER SCALE

There are various type of budgets, and when budgets go beyond one month, it may be more difficult to avoid errors in records or keep tabs on used funds. Having an everyday budget culture is a form of practice for budgeting on a larger scale, in cases like Life time budgeting, campaign budgets, or yearly budgets, among others.

Not everyone knows how to budget effectively. One can create a budget and still end up misappropriating funds. Once you can cultivate a daily budget habit using the right platforms, budgeting on a larger scale may come easy.

Imagine a way to split your money equally for daily spending, on small items such as airtime, bread, Maggie etc. Typically, many of us already spend money daily on miscellaneous. But the actual idea of budgeting daily is restrictive and does not permit impulsive buying.

For instance, the sum of N60,000 (Naira) is in your everyday spending account. And everyday N2,000 is made accessible across a 30 day period. Even though a person may not spend all the daily sum, this type of budgeting keeps them limited to the accessible fund of the day. Some of the change from one day can even be carried over to the next day, depending on individual needs. At the end of the month, all unspent money culminates to savings. This way, some of our daily budgeted funds can translate to rainy day funds.

The need for “everyday money” cannot be over-emphasized. No matter how little your income stream may seem, little drops of water will make a mighty ocean. Everyone with an income can operate with a budget. It might be hard to live on a budget at first, but in the long run one will find it useful.

Cultivating a daily budget culture might save you when you least expect it.