The Importance Of Budgeting

As we all know, budgeting is an important – and often necessary – thing to do, and so we usually budget for big items such as business expenses, bills and educational costs...but, we often don’t have a budget for our smaller, everyday items. This is normally, quite simply, because we don’t have a system in place to keep track of our spending, and before we know it, by the end of the month, all our money is gone – and we don’t really know where it all went. As the saying goes, the small things are the most dangerous, as we do them without realizing the effect until it has compounded.

The truth is, a lot of money can be wasted on buying everyday essential items such as cleaning products, personal care products, makeup, nutritional supplements and vitamins...and all the other little things we buy for our daily use. Every time we stop by the store we end up grabbing things that we don’t necessarily need – we get caught up in impulse purchasing, or persuaded by big red sale signs and clever point-of-sale marketing. We don’t tend to keep track of our usage of the different products we buy, and often we are not loyal to one brand long enough to actually see the results we’re after, and instead find ourselves persuaded to buy other products in the belief that they might actually provide the promised miraculous overnight results.

The result? We end up with a bunch of barely-used products sitting in our bathroom and kitchen cabinets, and cluttering up drawers in our homes. And worse than that – this, over a scarily short amount of time, can add up to hundreds or even thousands of dollars wasted.

We all have a long list of products that we do need to use on a regular basis, and as such, products that need to be replaced whenever they run out. So we also need to be strategic in how we buy these products – considering the cost, as well as the quality, given that it’s something that we use regularly on our bodies and in our homes. We need to be more deliberate in finding the products that are right for us, and avoid impulsively buying products we don’t actually need, and that only end up in us wasting money that we could have used elsewhere – somewhere more important, or more enjoyable! – if only we were a little bit more conscious and strategic in the purchasing of our essentials items.

As a minimalist myself, I really dislike clutter – especially with products. But even if you’re not bothered by the clutter, not only are cupboards full of half-used lotions, sprays and scrubs a waste of your precious money, and taking up precious space in your home...but they’re causing an unnecessary additional strain on our environment.

So what’s the best way to improve your everyday-essentials buying? Just start with a few simple things:

Start tracking what you’re spending. When you see how much you’ve spent on things you’re not even using, you’re bound to want to change those habits!

Make lists of what you actually need, research the best brands, and stick to only buying those - and only as and when you need to.

Limit your everyday-essentials buying to a specific time. Consciously buy all those essentials at the same time, as part of your big weekly shop, or on a specific outing. Get out of the habit of buying odd things here and there, as this is when you forget what you need, forget what you have, and get most tempted by clever marketing ploys.

By being strategic with our spending habits we can save money, reduce clutter and be conscious of getting quality products that are both good for us, and the environment. It’s a win-win all round.