Budget problem? Given the current financial situations worldwide, time and money are never enough. When it comes to not being thrifty, you try to justify yourself by concluding you deserved such a treat. Of course, resisting is not an easy job. 

You become obsessed with online gaming, shopping, and roaming around one day. Then the following day, you would oversleep during the morning hours, skip meals in a rush, and eventually consume fast food. Such a routine kills your health, and it creates extravagance.  

So, you need to understand the thin line between materialism and a busy lifestyle. We also give up on the spiritual well-being that drives us from being charitable.   

However, charity plays one of the major roles in Islam, so we can never keep it toned down. It is not always about money, but taking care of people in the community is also considered charity. Whatever you do, do it for the sake of Allah (SWT). 

You might be wondering whether a charity is even possible given the economic difficulties in the world today. But the truth is, it's not only about the economy but also your budget. Through our Islamic financial service, we can help you sort your budget. But before that, here are some facts you need to know! 

Your Budget Is Everything 

"Take benefit of five before five: Your youth before your old age, your health before your sickness, your wealth before your poverty, your free time before you are preoccupied, and your life before your death" - Narrated by Ibn Abbas and reported by Al-Hakim.

If you can list the daily expenses, then it would be easy to remove the unnecessary expense. Avoiding unnecessary expenses will help you keep your budget in check. Also, with good savings, you would be able to offer sadaqah and zakat. 

You will be able to lend a helping hand to friends and neighbours at times of difficulty. Also, a budget would set things right. You will be able to enjoy the holidays, go shopping, and take time off to rest and regain strength. 

How To Do Your Budget?

Knowing how important is a budget is not enough if you don't know to do it. So we've listed 10 steps to help you out. 

1. Initially, take a sum of the weekly/monthly income. Then, check your available bank balance.

2. Then, sum up your expenditures:

• Take printouts of the credit card and bank statements.
• Cash payments receipts 
• Loan payments ( Ex: Student, mortgage etc.)
• Rental payments
• Grocery expenses 
• Shopping/clothing expenses 
• Personal expenses 

There are apps to do budget tracking for you, so it's a matter of minutes. 

3. Personal expenses differ from person to person, so you have to add your expenses by calculating them. Yet we advise you to take note of all expenses.

Even the annual expenses should be calculated and divided by twelve, afterwards include that amount in the list of monthly expenditures.

4. Then, take a look at the expenditure list you just took. Prioritize them according to urgency. 

• Rent and monthly instalments 
• Daily expenses 
• Vehicle insurance / gas / maintenance payments 
• Loan payments 
• Children expenses ( school, class, etc.)
• Utility bills 

5. This will make it easy to remove unnecessary or impulsive purchases from your budget. And also, there are other expensive purchases such as weddings, vacations, ceremonies, and much more that can wait until you have the budget sorted. 

But for that, you have to make up your mind to resist the urge. 

6. After the calculations are done, as mentioned above. You have to compare the essential and the non-essential expenditures. Once done, you are good to go — create your budget list.

7. Once that's done, you will have the sum of the amount left after paying your bills and other expenses. Can you now decide on the voluntary fund? It doesn't have to be super high initially, but gradual growth would be possible. It would increase only if you do the following:

• Reduce fast food consumption
• Issue gifts per month
• Budget shopping/meal expenses monthly
• Upgrade new products for a valid reason ( shoes, phone, clothes etc.)
• Look for an affordable residence
• Negotiate the price before purchase 
• Use nature walks, free entry parks, libraries, museums etc.

8. Once you allocate the money for the voluntary fund, you have to look into the debts, sadaqah and savings. Debt elimination is something we have to consider before we leave this world. And you can offer charity with the sole reason to gain Al-Mighty's pleasure. 

9. Finally, savings should be made for a better future. The other option is to consider the transactions and how much to spend on retirement funds—once done, minus that amount from the voluntary funds. 

"And do not make your hand [as] chained to your neck or extend it completely and [thereby] become blamed and insolvent." Quran 17:29

10. Unpleasant surprises and emergencies are part of the package, so you need to consider them. Therefore set aside an amount monthly for such instances and be prepared. (vehicle breakdown, electronic on fire etc.) 

Once you gain the remaining money on the voluntary fund, take note of the extra activities you would spend monthly. Such needs for manicure, massage or anything which helps you mentally or physically can always be concerned and paid on. Just be cautious so as not to be fooled by extravagance.

Wrapping up 

Be devoted to your budget list. That could be the objective of leading a productive and stress-less lifestyle. Once you're progressing on your budget list, it would help you reflect more on priorities rather than non-essential stuff. 

Budgeting will help not only you but also others. You could lend a bag of groceries to a person who lost income recently. Donate to an orphan for their educational purpose or build a local mosque in your area.

Charity would bring immense blessing in times of need and consider important occasions to spend. If you still need help, Afiyah Financial Service is a click away.