When you’re renting an apartment, one of the most important things to know is how to create a budget and stick to it. After all, you need to make sure that you’re able to pay to have a roof over your head and keep the lights on in your apartment before anything else, because having somewhere warm and safe to sleep is the most important thing you can do.
Fortunately, Woodside’s luxury apartments in KC with all of our incredible amenities make it easy to save money by giving you an incredible place to work out and relax, enjoy a great meal, and attend exciting events, all without leaving the comfort of your apartment complex. However, even though Woodside’s luxury apartments in KC can provide you with a plethora of amazing amenities, that’s not all you need to budget for!
Here are some budgeting tips to keep in mind when you’re renting an apartment:
1. Create a monthly budget plan
You’re not going to be able to budget if you don’t first create a budgeting plan! This may take a bit of time, so don’t be discouraged if you aren’t able to hammer down a budgeting plan in a night.
To create your perfect budget, you first need to start at the source: what are you paying right now? Look at all of your expenses, like rent, utilities, car payments, cell phone service, and other fixed expenses that you absolutely must pay every month. See how much of your budget that each of these services requires.
Ultimately, the goal you want to shoot for in your expenses is something called the 50/20/30 rule. This rule boils down to this: 50% of your income should go to your everyday living expenses like rent, utilities, and groceries; 20% of your income should go to savings; and 30% of your income should be allotted for things you want to do like going out to eat, extraneous purchases, and other fun things. While this is difficult to accomplish, especially in today’s economy, this is a great goal to shoot for when creating your budgeting plan.
2. Give yourself some wiggle room for changing needs
If you’ve got a little extra money in your budget, then that’s great! Don’t think that you need to allocate for every single dollar that you bring in for your budget. Instead, consider putting that extra money aside into something like a “special occasions” fund, such as doing fun outings around Kansas City.
There are always going to be surprise expenses that pop up like birthday gifts, vacations, holidays, and more. However, if you’re budgeting every single penny of your income for things like rent, utilities, groceries, and other necessities, you aren’t going to have any extra money for extraneous expenses like vacations and birthday presents.
Make sure that you’re not budgeting yourself into a corner – your future self will thank you!
3. Make it a habit
When you first start budgeting, it can be difficult to remember to keep track of everything that you purchase. Understanding the cost of groceries and knowing how much you’ll likely spend, knowing how much you should budget for Amazon purchases, and other miscellaneous spending habits are likely going to fluctuate over the first couple of weeks. However, if you make it a habit to track all of your spending, it’ll soon become second nature.
If you’re worried about remembering to track your spending, try tracking everything in a budgeting app. Set a reminder on your phone to do it every day at a certain time, and keep all of your receipts. If you do this every day, soon enough you’ll be able to remember to keep track of it without the reminders!
4. Autopay is your friend
Late fees can absolutely destroy your budget if you don’t pay your bills on time. While late fees may not be huge amounts of money, having a lot of them across several bills can put quite a sizable dent in your budget that you may not have been expecting. This is why, if you can manage it, putting your bills on autopay can save you a lot of money in the long run!
You always know that your bills are getting paid on time, because the company will deduct the money needed straight from your bank account. As long as you’re budgeting correctly and keeping an eye on your bank account, autopay can save you time, money, and stress!
5. Savings should be a priority
It can be difficult to set aside enough money to put into your savings account, but as soon as you’re able to make it into a priority, you’ll be surprised to see how much you can save and how quickly you can do it! If you’re able to, try allocating at least 20% of each paycheck to put into savings. If you can’t, try doing 10%, or even a small set dollar amount each time you get paid. You’ll be amazed at how quickly the money adds up, and you’ll feel much better about having a safety net for emergencies – just in case!
6. Meal plan
You’ll be amazed at how much money you can save if you thoughtfully plan out your meals for the week. Of course, there are always going to be exceptions like illness, going out, and other unforeseen circumstances, but having a solid meal plan and being able to meal prep during the week can not only save you money, but a lot of time and headaches as well.
Contact Woodside Village Today
Here at Woodside’s luxury apartments in KC, we understand that budgeting as a renter can be difficult. With the fluctuation of bills, groceries, and other expenses, staying on top of a solid and consistent budget can be a challenge. Woodside, though, with its amazing amenities like the fitness center, hosted events, and spa, can make saving money easier and more luxurious.
If you’re interested in making Woodside Village your new home, then contact us and schedule a tour today!
