Posted on 03/14/2012 8:17:09 PM PDT by Altariel
Budgeting is not easy. Despite how simple it sounds, it’s not always easy to create a budget that can account for everything and still be easy to stick to.
One of the biggest mistakes we made early on was not being honest with ourselves. We would budget too small of an amount for some things and completely ignore others. This led to a lot of frustration because we would never have the money left at the end of the month to put towards debt that we expected.
The problem was that we wanted to see as big of a number on the bottom line as we could so we cut corners on the budget. This seemed good at the start of the month, but what we failed to understand was the psychological negatives of ending up with less than we expected. It felt like failure.
What we have learned is that honesty really is the best policy. Budget for everything. Even if it’s not a monthly bill. Budget for things that you know are coming, even if it makes your bottom line look smaller than you want. The upside is that you will feel much better about your progress if you end up with the amount left at the end of the month that you expected, even if it’s smaller than you would prefer. Don’t underestimate the value of creating an atmosphere of success.
Cut out all the fluff but don’t pretend that things aren’t going to come up if you know they will, and make sure to budget enough for things like food and gas. Nothing is more depressing than having to move money out of a budget that was meant to pay debt to cover extra things that could have been planned for.
This also helps you to be honest about your income. If you plan for everything and your debt payments are still smaller than you want, then you can look for ways to make more money. If you are fooling yourself, you just feel like you are failing and the problem is you, not your income.
Be honest and at the very least you will feel like you are succeeding at budgeting, which is a great start.
Even in a poor economy, I think it’s important that each member of the family be able to maintain some sort of hobby. For me, it’s gotta be a project.
I’ve reduced all my bills in order to keep up with this. Many let their hobbies go first - But we all need a sense of accomplishment.
” - - - Nothing is more depressing than having to move money out of a budget that was meant to pay debt to cover extra things that could have been planned for.”
Uh, - - - maybe Congress could get a few good ideas from this thread. Couldn’t hurt - - - .
ping for later
Good point.
If you don’t have something enjoyable to do, then what the heck is it all for?
My low cost hobby right now is wine making. $4 for grape juice and .80c for wine yeast. Start one every 2 weeks and in about 4 months I will have some fun rewards. It gives my wife and I something to do and something to look forward too. Cheap and tons of fun.
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