Lynnae McCoy is a freelance writer, homeschooling mom, and frugal living enthusiast. She writes about frugal living at Being Frugal.net and about balancing work and homeschooling at Freelance Homeschool Mom. When she has a rare spare moment, you can find her on Twitter.
Budget. The very word puts dread into the hearts of some individuals. “A budget is so restricting.” “I don’t want to be that tight with my money.” “There’s no freedom in budgeting.” Those are all reasons people don’t want to budget.
Well, I believe budgeting has a bad rap. Budgets aren’t restricting at all. In fact, having a budget is freeing!
Budgets Free You from Making Decisions
Have you ever stood in the mall, wondering if you should buy those stunning red heels? Or for you guys, have you wondered if you could afford that new motorcycle?
A budget tells you straight up if you can afford it or not. If the price tag on the shoes is $60 and you only have $50 budgeted for clothing, you don’t buy the shoes. If you have more than $60 in your clothing budget, you can buy the shoes. The decision is easy.
Budgets Free You from Money Arguments
If you have no idea where your money goes each month, it’s easy to worry about whether you can pay for the basics. Will you have enough money to pay for the phone bill? The mortgage? Worrying about money is a huge stressor in many marriages. The wife thinks the husband needs to spend less on the cars, and the husband thinks the wife spends too much on groceries.
A budget provides a neutral, fact-based way for couples to look at their income and spending. If a couple agrees upon a budget and money is not allocated for an expense, one spouse cannot blame the other for overspending. It’s all written down in black and white.
Budgets Free You to Meet Your Goals
The most important freedom a budget provides is the freedom to meet your financial goals. So often in life, people blame outside circumstances for not meeting goals. Without a concrete plan for saving money for a down payment on a house, owning a home is just a dream.
A budget ensures that you are spending your money in the best way possible to meet the financial goals you have for the future. By having a concrete spending plan in place, your financial dreams become concrete, achievable goals.
Rather than looking at a budget as a restrictive plan, telling me what I can’t spend, I prefer to look at a budget as a tool which helps me reach my goals. And that’s a freeing thought.
Oh the dreaded budget. We have never lived on a budget but are at the point where I am trying to put us on a budget with a little bit of flexibility. Hubby is just learning the words, honey we don’t have the money or we’ll have to get that next month. He’s not really liking it either but we have plans and of course these plans involve money and we will never get there if he doesn’t work with me on this budget thing!!
Thanks for a different perspective on the subject. I definitely need it and can use it to help hubby