給月光族的理財小建議

There are months when sticking to your budget seems very easy. There are also months when you manage to blow your budget even when you have been careful with your money.

一年中有幾個月，把生活成本控制在預(yù)算之內(nèi)還是很容易的。但還有幾個月，即使你精打細(xì)算，最終還是超支了。

If you are working without an emergency fund, any unexpected expenses like a medical bill can blow your budget at the beginning of the month.

如果你沒有一筆應(yīng)急資金，任何意想不到的開支(比如醫(yī)療費用)都可能在月初就超出你的預(yù)算。

It is stressful to realize that you are out of money and still have several days or even weeks until you get paid again.

當(dāng)你意識到自己已經(jīng)沒錢了，而且還有幾天甚至幾周的時間才能拿到工資時，你會感到壓力重重。

If you have blown your budget , you need to reduce the amount of money that you spend each day.

如果你的預(yù)算已經(jīng)超支了，你需要減少每天的開銷。

Depending on how tight your budget is, you may need to stop all spending completely.

這取決于你的預(yù)算有多緊張，有可能你需要完全停止所有支出。

You should bring your lunch from home and do everything you can to really reduce the amount that you spend on food.

你應(yīng)該從家里帶午餐，盡你所能來減少你在食物上的開支。

It is important to think about necessities versus luxuries at this point. If it is a luxury, then you need to skip it for the rest of the month.

這時候考慮必需品和奢侈品是很重要的。如果是奢侈品，那么你需要在這個月剩下的時間里跳過它。

You should even work on reducing the amount that you would normally spend on necessities. This can make a big difference in how long it takes you to recover from a financial mistake.

你甚至應(yīng)該努力減少日常生活必需品的開支。這將會對你從財務(wù)錯誤中恢復(fù)過來的時間有很大的影響。

You may also want to consider selling some things to raise extra cash, taking on extra hours or picking up part-time work to cover the difference.

你也可以考慮賣掉一些東西來籌集額外的資金，加班或者兼職來彌補差額。

01 Should I Use a Credit Card?

我應(yīng)該用信用卡嗎?

This is a tricky situation. It is not a good idea to use a credit card, but if you are choosing between not eating at all for the rest of the month or using your credit card to buy groceries, then it is better to eat.

這是一個棘手的情況。使用信用卡并不是一個好主意，但是如果你要在這個月剩下的時間里選擇完全不吃東西或者用信用卡購買食品雜貨，最好還是選擇吃東西吧。

However, this means that you are buying inexpensive items, you are not eating out and you are doing everything you can to reduce the amount that you are spending.

然而，這意味著你買的是便宜的東西，沒有在外面吃飯，你正在盡一切努力減少你的消費。

You should not eat out on the credit card, and you should not be using it to go to the movies.

你不應(yīng)該在外面用信用卡吃飯，也不應(yīng)該用信用卡去看電影。

You do not need to wrack up big bills to travel for entertainment reasons when you are in this situation. You should also have a clear plan on how you are going to pay this off in the next month or two.

當(dāng)你處于這種情況時，你不需要為了娛樂去旅行而花費大筆的錢。你還應(yīng)該有一個明確的計劃，你將如何在接下來的一兩個月內(nèi)還清這筆錢。

02 How Can I Stop This From Happening Again?

我如何阻止這種事情再次發(fā)生呢?

If you find yourself in a pattern where you consistently run out of money or blow your budget at the beginning of the month, you need to work to change your situation.

如果你發(fā)現(xiàn)自己在月初總是沒有錢或花光預(yù)算，你需要努力改變現(xiàn)狀。

If it is something like a car repair or an unexpected expense, then an emergency fund should solve your problem.

如果是修車或意外開支，那么應(yīng)急基金應(yīng)該能解決你的問題。

This allows you to cover the expense without affecting the rest of your budget.

這允許你在不影響你其余部分預(yù)算的情況下支付費用。

If you find this happening all of the time, you need to consider whether or not you have spending issues that you need to address.

如果你發(fā)現(xiàn)這種情況經(jīng)常發(fā)生，你需要考慮一下是否有需要解決的消費問題。

You also need to consider if your budget is actually working. Often people who struggle this way do not have a budget at all.

你還需要考慮你的預(yù)算是否真的有效。通常這樣掙扎的人根本沒有預(yù)算。

03 Why Does My Budget Never Seem to Work?

為什么我的預(yù)算似乎從來沒有起作用?

If you are having a hard time following your budget, you may be facing a few different issues.

如果你在預(yù)算上有困難，你可能會面臨一些不同的問題。

The first thing you need to consider is if you set your budget categories at a realistic level.

你需要考慮的第一件事是你是否把預(yù)算類別設(shè)置在一個現(xiàn)實的水平。

When you first set up a budget you may arbitrarily decide that you can get by with spending only $100.00 a week on food.

當(dāng)你第一次制定預(yù)算時，你可能隨隨便便地就決定每周只花100美元買食物。

However, if up to this point you have been spending $200.00 a week, this is a big difference and you may not be able to do it.

然而，如果到目前為止你一周花了200美元，這是一個很大的差額，你可能無法做到。

You may want to try cutting back gradually until you reach your goal.

你可能想要嘗試逐漸削減直到達(dá)到你的目標(biāo)。

You may also be having a hard time tracking your expenses. This means that you are overspending in certain categories like entertainment and then you are out of money when it is time to buy groceries.

你可能也很難記錄你的開銷。這意味著你在某些領(lǐng)域如娛樂上花費過多，當(dāng)你需要購買日用品的時候你就沒錢了。

Finally, you may have an income issue where you simply do not make enough to cover your necessities or your lifestyle.

最后，你可能會有收入問題，你掙的錢不足以支付你的生活必需品或生活方式。

You will need to cut back your spending and work on raising your income.

你需要削減開支，還要努力提高你的收入。