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Creating a personal budget is easy. Sticking to it is hard. It’s even harder if the personal budget isn’t right for you.

Everyone can set a personal budget*. You look at your income and your outgoings and write it all down. Now you have to stick to it, and this is the part that people struggle with. You’re not alone if you are struggling with it.

One of the reasons to struggle is simply because it’s not right for you. It’s okay to admit this! Once you admit that the budget is wrong, you can take steps to make it right so that you can stick to it.

Not sure if it’s you or the budget? It’s probably the budget, and here are five signs it’s not right for you.

It’s not clearing your debt off

Your personal budget needs to have areas for all types of spending and saving. That includes your debt. Now, your aim isn’t to take care of all debt at once. You want to do either the snowball method or the avalanche method—I recommend the snowball method to a lot of people I know because of their mentality when it comes to debt.

If you’re not clearing any of your debt with your budget, then you need to rework it. After all, it’s clear that this isn’t right for your needs. You need to do more than pay the minimum payments to at least one form of debt until it’s cleared off. Only paying the minimum will lead to never really clearing that debt.

So, take a look at your budget again. Where can you take money from. It may have to come out of your savings, and that’s okay for now. You still want a little in your savings, but you want to clear your debt as fast as possible.

MORE: 5 signs you need to look at your personal budget again

You forgot something in your personal budget

As you went through all the expenditures you have, did you forget about something? This could be something as small as your Netflix subscription, but it could end up being something as big as your electricity bill. Either way, forgetting something from the budget means that it doesn’t work for you.

You need to go back to the budget and add that expense in. Now you need to rework other numbers. After all, where is that expense coming from?

It’s okay to admit you forgot something. We all do it; we’re human! The trick is to admitting it and not just continually forgetting about it.

Your income has changed considerably

Adding an extra $100 to your income isn’t going to change a lot. Just add that $100 to your emergency savings or put it toward your debt. If your income changes substantially, though, you will need to make some changes to your budget*.

It doesn’t matter if your income goes up or down. Making changes to your budget is essential.

Let’s say your income goes down. You need to figure out how to rework your finances to cover everything you need. What if your income goes up? Well, what are you going to do with that extra money? You risk spending it on useless, frivolous items when you could clear your debt or save more for the future.

Your personal budget didn’t include saving money

You put all your focus on clearing debt. That’s normal. We spend most of our time focusing on the money right now and not really thinking of the future. That needs to change, though.

One of the things you need to do is look at where your money could go in the future. You need to think about what your future looks like. This isn’t just about retirement. What about next month if your car needs some unexpected repairs? What about in a year if you suddenly find that you’re laid off? You need to make sure you’re ready for it.

You may not have a lot of spare money. That could be because you put more in the luxuries account than you really need. It’s time to take some from that and start saving. You want to start with an emergency fund and then work your way up from there.

Sacrifices do need to be made to make sure you’re set up in the future. That will mean losing out on some luxuries here and there. It can make budgeting not so fun, but it’s a necessary part of life.

MORE: 5 tips to stick to your budget

You didn’t look at your own personal situation

Did you use a friend’s budget to make your own? While you can look at a friend’s to get an idea of what you should include, their financial situation is not the same as yours. It’s important to take a step back and create a personalized budget* for yourself.

Take a look at your own income and your own outgoings. Go through bank statements to see where you regularly spend your money. Take a look at the usual outgoings you have, but also the ones that you could cut back on.

Don’t forget your debt and savings! These are personalized to you, so you’ll need to be realistic with them to create a personal budget that is right for you and not your friend.

MORE: 5 budgeting myths holding you back from financial freedom

Do you need help with your personal budget? Get in touch today to see how I can help!