George Kamel Says Money Experts Who Believe Budgets Don’t Work Are Wrong — Here’s Why
Written by
Terence Loose
Edited by
Cory Dudak
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
Ramsey Solutions Master Financial Coach George Kamel has a bone to pick with budget-hating money experts. Perhaps that’s because, as he tells it, after following the traditional American view of debt as a “tool” and college debt as a positive, he landed $40,000 in the hole. Then, he formed a budget, and within 18 months was debt free.
Ten years later, Kamel was a debt-free millionaire. So yeah, he’s a fan. Here are five reasons he says budgets work, and budget-haters are dead wrong.
Budgets Are Flexible
Many money experts claim budgets are too restrictive, and therefore impossible to follow. Kamel strongly disagrees. Instead, he argued in a recent YouTube video on the matter, that budgets are flexible things — as long as you respect the total amount per month you set for yourself. So, for instance, if you find a great deal on a barbecue you’ve been eyeing, but it’s not in your “backyard upgrades” budget, it’s perfectly fine to grab it. Just “steal” the money from another budget category.
Paying Attention to Where Your Money Goes Is Budgeting
According to Kamel, many money experts advise not to get too in the weeds with your budget. For example, “nerding out” and creating too many categories is wasted time. Create ten categories, plug in your numbers and move on, they say. Kamel disagrees. His point is that if you are paying close attention to how you are spending your money, that’s a win. That’s the essence of budgeting.
Budgeting Is Not Saving
Yes, it’s probably true that if you create a budget and pay attention to how you spend your money, you have a better shot at saving for things like retirement, vacations or big ticket items. But, said Kamel, even if you automate your savings — setting up certain amounts to automatically get funneled into your retirement account, for instance — it doesn’t mean you are sticking to a budget. Retirement savings should merely be one category in a solid budget.
Budgeting Is More Important for Those With Irregular Income
One thing Kamel hears is that those with varying and irregular income can’t budget. But, he argued, creating a budget is more important for them than for those on regular incomes. His suggestion is to create what he calls a “prioritized spending plan.” With this, you first budget for the lowest amount you will earn in a month and make sure you cover the bare necessities: food, shelter, utilities, transportation. As more money comes in, you can cover the next set and the next set, etc.
A Budget by Any Other Name…
Kamel’s number one gripe when it comes to money experts dissing budgets is that, in fact, all they are usually doing is advocating a budget, but using another name for it. For instance, in his recent video, he called out one money expert who promoted creating a “spending plan” instead of a budget — only to then describe a budget plan.
“Once again, we have someone saying budgets are dumb, here’s what you should do instead, and then they begin to describe… a budget,” Kamel noted. So, said Kamel, whether you call it a budget, a spending plan, a dollar diet or anything else, as long as you’re doing it, that’s what really counts.
More From GOBankingRates
