5 Things To Do If You Didn’t Get the Raise You Had Already Worked Into Your Budget

PeopleImages / Getty Images/iStockphoto

Commitment to Our Readers

GOBankingRates' editorial team is committed to bringing you unbiased reviews and information. We use data-driven methodologies to evaluate financial products and services - our reviews and ratings are not influenced by advertisers. You can read more about our editorial guidelines and our products and services review methodology.

20 Years
Helping You Live Richer

Reviewed
by Experts

Trusted by
Millions of Readers

Not getting an expected raise at work is a gut punch that often results in resentment and anger toward one’s boss or the company as a whole. After you’ve calmed down, a professional course of action is necessary to manage your emotions and close the matter before moving past the setback.

But what if you were so certain of a new position (and the corresponding salary hike) that you already slipped extra money into your budget and spending into your lifestyle?

Here are five things you should prioritize if you’ve already worked a salary increase into your latest financial plan.

Sort Out Your Budget ASAP

Making a new, basic budget should be your priority if you find yourself in this uncomfortable position. To safeguard your emergency savings and take care of basic necessities, you’ll need to go over the numbers in your current budget and stop spending as if you got the raise.

Tightening your belt is important, so you’ll need to identify any discretionary spending on things like dining out, subscriptions and other entertainment expenses. Vacations should be put on hold, as should large purchases and impulse buys by you, your partner and family.  

Track Every Dollar

If you really want to make a budget work, you have to be ruthless about spending and diligent about tracking where your money goes. Track your expenses for a month through an app like You Need a Budget, Goodbudget, Quicken Simplifi or PocketGuard, and you’ll find it easy to classify your spending habits and account for every dollar you waste.    

Create a New, Reality-Based Budget

According to financial expert, bestselling author and “Ramsey Show” co-host Rachel Cruze, a new budget should consist of nothing more than a simple, five-step worksheet. “When you tell your money where to go — instead of wondering where it went — you’re the one in control. Even millionaires do it!”

Regardless of the format or method, a new budget should include listing your actual income and your actual expenses, then subtracting the latter from the former. The goal is to arrive at a “zero-based” budget, where any surplus money has a role, whether it’s paying off debt or putting it toward growth investments or an emergency savings account.

Seek Temporary Cash Flow Solutions

If you find you’re spending more than you earn, you’ll need to trim your expenses and seek out new income streams. Developing new skills and increasing your expertise makes you a more valuable employee and can open doors, but tapping into the talents you already possess is a way to create supplemental income fast.

As Cinneah El Amin, a product manager and entrepreneur who more than doubled her annual salary in 2021, told CNBC Make It, tapping into your existing skills to create a side hustle that works for you can be a great way to supplement income. “Don’t sleep on monetizing your skills outside the 9-to-5,” El Amin said. “A lot of us take for granted the skills that come innately to us, that people are definitely willing to pay us for.”

Avoid Risky Quick Fixes

It’s funny how people think. Dedicating oneself to a smart budget is seen as a secondary or less conventional option to using payday loans or high-interest credit cards.

Simply put, borrowing money you can’t afford to lose will create more problems than solutions. Unless you’re in a dire financial predicament, avoid taking out any new loans or raiding any of your retirement savings.

Share This Article: