Live within your means

If you are leading the life of someone with champagne tastes but your budget shows you can only afford beer, it’s time to be realistic and go right back to basics. After struggling for many years through the 2007/8 financial crisis, learning to survive financially, became the biggest focus of my life. With three young children, a large mortgage and no money coming in from our failing business, I spent every day stressing about how I was going to pay all the bills. I soon realised, to manage your money properly, you need to start with a budget. Living within your means is about managing your lifestyle expectations until your budget is back on track. Living pay cheque to pay cheque is not fun and none of us want a completely compromised lifestyle either, just so we can pay the bills. What’s the point of working so hard if you can’t ever enjoy any of the benefits of what money can buy?