5 Budgeting Myths Busted

It’s a fact that budgeting improves our lives. It lets us know where we stand and makes our money work for us. I’ve heard every excuse in the book on why someone can’t budget or just simply won’t. It’s all nonsense. People just make budgeting harder than it really is. It’s not rocket science; anyone can do it! Budgeting myths and excuses have been around forever, but it’s time to let them go and get smarter with your money.

 

Takes too much time:
I will say in the beginning; it does take a little time. For the first few months, you may spend a few hours a month budgeting and tweaking that budget, but after that it’s just math. once you have a pattern, then all you have to do is change the numbers every month.

This excuse is no longer an excuse because it’s just simply not true, and if this is the reason you don’t budget; you are not doing yourself, your family, or your wallet any favors.

2. The math:
Give me a break. Nowadays, everyone has a calculator within arm’s reach. Depending on which budget you choose to use ( o based, google calendar), all you have to do is make sure your income and spending equals out to 0. How hard is that? I bet you could even let your 5th grader do your budget!

3. Tracking your spending:
I will say that it’s great that you track every dollar you spend, but that isn’t the same as budgeting. How do you plan your savings? How do you plan your bills? How do you know you’ll be able to pay next month’s bills? You don’t because tracking your spending, while great, isn’t making your money work for you.

It’s great when you know where your money is going, but the issue is that you don’t have a plan. You don’t know where your money needs to go. Most person’s bills change from month to month, at least some bills do, so you need to plan accordingly. If you are already tracking your spending, a 0 based budget shouldn’t be a problem for you.

4. Not allowed to spend:
Budgeting does NOT mean you can’t spend money. It actually does the opposite; it gives you the freedom to know what you can spend each month and still be able to pay your bills.

5. Strict:
Your budget doesn’t need to be strict. In fact, I believe if a budget is too strict and cuts all the fun out, you will never follow it. As long as all bills are paid, there should always be a little “play” money in your budget.

6. Budget means you’re poor:
Please let this be a joke. Everyone needs a budget. I don’t care if you’re a millionaire or a billionaire you need a budget.

7. No paper:
This is my favorite budget excuse ever,“ I don’t need a budget on paper, I know what I need to pay”. If you can keep a budget in your head from month to month, you might just be a rocket scientist. For goodness sake, I can barely remember what day it is, but please put it on paper seriously. Just do it.

Don’t think of a budget as a job or chore, think of it as a tool. A tool that helps you make your money work for you. A tool that is there to help improve your life and not restrict it. Take the time to find the budget that works for you and your family. Once you have it, you won’t regret it.