4 Great Pieces of Budgeting Advice from Top Money Experts

By Mary Hiers

Earning money is great, but spending it properly is even more important.

If you pull in the big bucks and just spend it all recklessly, you’re risking walking down a very dangerous path.

Budgeting your money, no matter how much or how little you have, is one of the most important skills you can learn.

Below are a few sage tips from various financial experts to help you get started.

By listening to their words and applying their wisdom properly, you can survive and thrive on even the most meager of salaries.

Suze Orman: A 10% Cut in Family Spending

Financial guru Suze Orman suggests cutting your family spending (or just plain fun spending, for 10% every month.

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It’s just enough of a cut that you’ll start to see savings pile up quickly, thereby making it easier to pay back debts and cover actual, important expenses.

However, it’s not enough of a cut that you’ll feel like you’re depriving your loved ones of anything.

Let’s face it — if you’re used to spending $100 on movies and gaming every month, trimming that amount down to $90 a month isn’t going to cause mass wailing and angst.

Everybody will still have fun, including your wallet.

Dave Ramsey: Overbudget for Groceries 

The ever-animated Dave Ramsey knows why you budget and save, save and budget, and yet still end up broke every month –you forgot the food.

According to Ramsey, when people put together their monthly budget, a lot of them don’t consider their grocery bill at all.

And if they do, they severely underbudget, so even though they may think they’re putting $100 aside every month, $80 of that is actually going to num-nums they forgot to calculate.

So next time you go grocery shopping, hold onto your receipts, and add them all up at the end of the month (this includes times you ate out, because even though Burger King can barely be considered food, it still technically is.)

Whatever that amount if, add $50 to the total, just in case.

There’s your real grocery budget, and if you go under, great. That’s always preferable to going over.

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