Budget Apartment Living Tips Lindsay Lohan Could Use

The economic downturn has even affected the wealthy and those that you would assume would be able to weather a weaker economy. However, if you’re Lindsay Lohan, you have found yourself in the same boat as millions of other Americans. Lindsay has been a pretty rough year. She’s had several run-ins with the law for drug related offenses. She has also had to complete court mandated rehab and weekly alcohol classes. She has even faced extended jail time for violating the terms of her probation. All of these events along with her excessive partying and shopping has caused Lindsay to be in a financial rut. Even Lindsay Lohan would benefit from having a tighter budget. If Lindsay Lohan, who has access to and generates more income than most of us will in a lifetime, needs to live by a budget, it is obvious that we all would benefit from doing so. Here are a few easy ways to manage and maintain control over your finances.

Creating a budget

The first step in creating your budget when you’re moving into an apartment is to establish what funds you have to work with every month. For Lindsay Lohan, this may include some assistance of a accountant to calculate since she has several sources of residual income streams. However, for most of us, we only have to organize our paycheck stubs in order to establish how much our net income is every month. While calculating your gross income can be helpful in some cases, it is a better idea to calculate your monthly budget based on the actual amount of your income based on the actual amount of pay you bring home every month. After establishing how much income you have coming in, the next step in establishing a budget is to determine how much you have going out. Lindsay probably has some very extravagant items that will make this list. Along with the rental or mortgage payments for several homes and the maintenance expenses of these homes, she also has the payroll requirements for all of her staff,
along with the costs of her legal troubles. For you this will require you to gathering all of your standard monthly bills, such as rent, utilities, phone, cable, etc., and know exactly how much is spent, on average, on these items. Next, you should calculate what is spent on variable monthly expenses. These expenses include your food and grocery, transportation, entertainment, and other costs that will fluctuate from month-to-month. Once you total these two categories together, you’ve got a very good idea of how much you need to set aside monthly to avoid going into debt. Getting it all down on paper or in a spreadsheet is the way to start.

Cutting back

After you’ve written down your monthly income and expenses, you should start looking for the areas where you might be able to cut back. The best place to start is with the expenses that fall in the variable category. Because your standard expenses typically represent long-term obligations that you can’t immediately change, such as rental or car payments, you should look to cut back in the areas that can provide some savings in the short term. Your monthly food and entertainment budgets are usually the first category to be evaluated. If you eat out frequently, you may be surprised by how much you can save simply by cooking and dining in more often. This can easily represent a couple hundred dollars in monthly savings if you eat out more than four times per week. If you don’t take your lunch to work daily, for example, this may be one area where you can make a small change that can represent big savings. Evaluating your cable and cell phone plans may also provide easy savings targets. Perhaps you can start clipping coupons or bargain shopping if there are name brands that you cannot do without.

Sticking with the plan

If you are already budget-minded, you know that the most important part of budget living is being consistent and sticking to the plan. Living on a budget while living in apartments in any area, can be a challenge, but the rewards can far outweigh the sacrifices made. Be aware of what you buy, and be intentional in only buying what you really need and will use. Don’t allow yourself to become overwhelmed with the stress of establishing a plan to benefit your financial future. If you need more assistance in your apartment search, want more information on apartment living, or want to read a review visit UMoveFree.com.