Lauren Cobello » Budgeting » Budget Tips and Tricks » How to Budget Better and Stop Hating your Budget!
This may surprise some of you, but I have a love/hate relationship with budgeting. And it’s been mostly hate over my lifetime, but I always wanted to know how to budget better. I recognize how important it is, and when I’m going strong, it can almost be enjoyable. But when you fall off the wagon – gosh, it is HARD to climb back on. And prior to 2008, I NEVER EVER EVER budgeted. I had no idea how to budget.
Before I continue, let me clarify my use of the term ‘budget.’ I do not simply mean checking your account balances and making sure you have enough income to cover your expenses throughout the month. I’m talking about a proactive management of your finances. On a monthly basis, this usually means mapping out each dollar’s designation ahead of time.There are several excuses for those who don’t budget.
Here are two fairly common reasons, and I’ve been in both of these camps:
I can only speak for myself, but in each of these cases, the overriding reason to not budget was a mixture of laziness and an unwillingness to restrict my spending. Those aren’t very good reasons.
In fact, is there ever a good reason? How could I NOT know where my money was going? I would never invest in a business being run this way, yet I’ve been willing to run MY OWN LIFE and risk my family’s financial future because… I DIDN’T FEEL LIKE IT?!?! (I’m sorry for shouting… I just wish I could shout loud enough for 24 year-old self to hear.)
During the times in life of not budgeting, I always knew that at some point I’d have to face reality. My rock-bottom arrived while living in Charlotte, NC several years ago as I faced the reality that I had been avoiding.
It took work… a lot of work. I also took quite a bit of compromise, and restraint. And after the first few months of budgeting, I realized 3 things:
I want to take moment and discuss #3 for a bit. A very succinct definition of maturity is the ability to delay gratification. This isn’t just a cute, insightful definition created to make a point or impress people. Delayed gratification is well-studied personality trait by psychologists that has been linked to greater mental and physical health, as well as overall achievement in life.
Described more simply, it is the ability to tell yourself ‘no’ because you know that the future holds something better in store for you. A three-year old cannot do this very well, but an adult should be able to.
Through this budgeting process, I came to realize how immature I was in some areas of my life. With things as small as wanting to go out to a nice dinner on a whim to things as large as wanting to buy a nicer car – I was unwilling to say ‘no’ far too often. It’s not that these things are inherently bad, but I didn’t have the money for them! And when I started telling myself ‘no,’ it didn’t feel like punishment, it felt like HOPE. I had a plan; and I still have a plan. I am saying ‘no’ because there is something better in store later. With that hope comes freedom, and a feeling of control.
But as I mentioned earlier, I have not always been a model citizens when it comes to budgeting. Life has often gotten crazy (it has a way of doing that, doesn’t it?), and during some of those times I relapsed and went a few months without a budget – and it SUCKED.
I felt completely out of control, and getting that control back was so hard… I would picture myself trying to wrestle a tornado. I would start to lose hope, and feel constrained instead of the freedom I had gotten used to.
One more comment on this freedom – it isn’t just a feeling – it is actual, physical freedom that can be acted on. Through years of discipline, I don’t owe anyone anything because I am debt free.
This freedom all started with a pen, some paper, a money saving budget planner, and a whole bunch of desperation.
Interested in getting your own Personal Finance Planner, check one out here.
COMMENTS