Secret #1: budgets are NOT just for the broke
Ok, we’re gonna start by clearing something up. I never want to put you in a box, shame you, or tell you how to live your life. My entire goal is to help you empower yourself when it comes to your finances.
There is a stigma surrounding budgeting, but having a budget does not mean that you are broke. You can (and I would argue should) be intentional about spending, saving, investing, and sharing your wealth. Always. In all financial circumstances. Whether you have piles or pennies. It still needs to be managed! Big huge corporations even spend lots and lots of dollars to get someone to manage their lots and lots of other dollars.
A budget is a plan. Period. There should be no shame or fear or judgement when someone makes a decision to be intentional with any resource, especially money!
A budget is a plan. Period.
Whew! I’ma get down from my soapbox now. If you aren’t convinced yet, go back and read that again. Because once you believe that this is for you, and that it isn’t shameful, then you can absorb the rest of the truth in here, yeah?
Secret #2: budgeting is NOT all or nothing.
It feels like it’s pointless to manage part of your finances, right? Money seems like an all or nothing thing. But it doesn’t have to be that way! Don’t let yourself be intimidated. Start small. Some budget is better than no budget. Choose one area that you can track and limit this week, like….Uber eats. Or gas. Then do it again next week.
After a few months of baby steps, building a budget will feel like nothing, because you already have a foundation.
Maybe after a month you will realize you should cut back on streaming movies from Amazon Prime, and a couple months later you’ll tackle all the groceries you’re buying now that you aren’t paying someone to go get you dinner every night. After a few months of baby steps, building a budget will feel like nothing, because you already have a foundation.
Secret #3: your budget is NOT set in stone.
Does it feel like your budget just doesn’t get you? Dump it and create a new one! If your financial strategy is causing you more stress than it is relieving, it’s ok to find a new method. You are unique, and your finances are too.
Especially if something has changed in your life, it’s ok (and smart, and healthy!) to revisit and make changes. We usually end up moving things around a little bit every month or two. For a while Jesse was attending a men’s group that met for breakfast on Saturday mornings. During that time we had to add another category to our budget, but after 4 months the group was over and we reallocated those funds elsewhere.
If your financial strategy is causing you more stress than it is relieving, it’s ok to find a new method. You are unique, and your finances are too.
Sometimes I have to change things up just to keep myself on my toes. It’s easy to get complacent with the familiar, I think. Try tracking your spending on paper in a fun journal for a while.
You can make a date with yourself; pour yourself some wine and get comfy, or go to your favorite coffee shop, or find a nice park bench.
Change it, slash it, cut it back, or dress it up. Just….don’t give up on it, k? Thanks.
Secret #4: you probably DO have something to cut back.
Ok, this one is for those of us who are struggling to cover everything, or who really want to save money, whether that be for a trip or a house or an Xbox or mountain bike or retirement.
I am guilty of this all the time. I have said time and again “we can’t pay the bills without _______”, or “I have cut back on _______ as far as possible”. Nobody likes to hear this, and some people really actually are going without the necessities of life, but for the majority of us, our first world idea of going without is a little bit silly.
I won’t tell you that it’s always going to be easy, but I will tell you that it is possible.
Every time I have to cut our budget, I think that this time we are stretched as far as we can go. But our family went from 4 incomes and 2 humans to 1 income and 3 humans over two and a half years, and we haven’t missed a car or mortgage payment yet. Yes, my husband was able to go up to 50 hours/week for a while, and yes, I am working a little bit now…but we also keep finding more fat to trim.
I used to buy a latte almost every morning. Now I reuse my tea bags to get two cups instead of one. I had to skip my little sisters’ orchestra performance because it was that or being there when my older sister visits from Kentucky, because it costs $50 in gas every time we drive over the mountain. Small things can seem unimportant, but they are better than nothing, and eventually they do add up.
Small things can seem unimportant, but eventually they do add up.
It hurts to cut back, I know. I have cried over the sweet potatoes I don’t always get to eat and the movies we haven’t seen…I won’t tell you that it’s always going to be easy, but I will tell you that it is possible, and I believe it is usually temporary.
Life is a process, and it has a learning curve. So whatever situation you are in, adapt to it, learn from it, and love your life through it! It is still your life, and it is still amazing, just like you. You got this.
Doing All Things 