Bulletproof Budget Hack

Creating a budget is like the rite of passage into adulthood. Having one keeps your finances balanced, your bill collectors happy and makes you seem like a responsible adult!

.....Well what if you absolutely SUCK at budgeting? You've tried almost everything from using apps to binge reading Dave Ramsey until your eyes dry out. The problem may stem from anything between lack of financial education to mental health symptoms. Don't worry, we are NOT judging here!

The answer to your problems may lie in a little plastic card. No! Not a credit card, a GIFT card. That's right, this little hack is about to make sure you don't spend a nickle out of your budget. Let's break this down further:

1. You can get a gift card for almost anything! Clothes, groceries, restaurants,hardware stores, supermarkets... the list is endless! This makes budgeting a bit more easier since there's so many options. For instance, if you give yourself $100 a month for groceries and $50 a month to eat take out...then it'd be very easy to get yourself a gift-card at your favorite grocery store and restaurant. Even for places that don't have specific gift cards, you could always buy a visa gift card and write the category on the card.

2. You won't overspend in your categories! The beauty of most gift cards is that you can't overspend what isn't there. So if you run out of money on your "eat out" gift card, there's no chance that you will be able to use more than you have. The other beauty is that you can only use most gift cards at one place! So if you use up your "eat out" gift card, then there's no way that you can use your grocery gift card to cover the costs of anything else. This forces use to stick to your allocated budget and not live beyond your means!

3. You can use as many as you need! Unless there's some gift card police I wasn't aware of then you can you use however many cards to make a suitable budget for a lifetime! There's no credit check to get one and there is no limit to how many you can buy. This makes it easier to keep a consistent plan for months or even years.

When done right, this hack is bulletproof! Probably the main thing to be wary of is using too many visa debit cards because then it kind of cancels out key points 1 & 2. You'll want to make sure to use specific gift cards as much as possible. Other than that, you'll be on to healthier spending habits in no time!