If you hate budgets you'll LOVE this. When we start thinking about saving money and getting our financial lives in order the word that comes to most people's minds is the word ‘budget'. I know budgets work for some people, and if they work for you I'm really glad (tell me your tips!) but they've never worked for me even though I've really wanted them.
28 Reasons Why Budget's Suck…
1. Budgets are boring
2. Budgets don’t work
3. Budgets provide too much gray area Does the dinner out of Friday night go into the entertainment category or the food category?
4. Budgets are too time-consuming Spending so much time inputting data into a spread sheet takes A LOT of time. Who has that much extra time?
5. Budgets are prone to A LOT of errors
6. Budgets are not empowering
7. Budgets focus on the wrong thing
8. Budgets are too subjective
9. They are hard to keep on your mind
10. Budgets are tedious Tracking every single penny day after day is not a recipe for long-term financial success
11. The word “budget” itself is cringe-worthy Ew. Budgets.
12. Budgets are abstract
13. Budgets are over-rated
14. Budgets have too many negative feelings attached to them
15. Budgets are more about tracking money then about what really matters to people Like, having a happy, hopeful life
16. Budgets are old-fashioned
17. Budgets aren’t realistic
18. Budgets fail more often then they succeed
19. Budgets don’t factor in the variables of life
20. Budgets are too structured while life is not
21. Budgets are discouraging
22. Temptation, temptation, temptation
23. Budgets can actually INCREASE spending! See this article: Self-imposed price restraints increase spending
24. Creating a budget (staring at that blank piece of paper) can be overwhelming Even though there are countless free spreadsheets online
25. They're pointless
26. They're frustrating
27. When creating a budget we usually underestimate our monthly spending and expenses
28. Paying off debt by budgeting takes F O R E V E R Why not suffer for a little bit of time, get out of debt, and get on with your life? See my suggestions on how to do just that below…
So what DOES work? Spending Fasts® and Spending Diets do!
- Keep it simple
- Make a black and white plan and eliminate the gray area with a ‘Wants and Needs' List
- Cut your ‘Needs' list down even more and buy in-season and generic whenever possible
- Be sure to think about and implement creative ways to INCREASE your income
- Shift the focus to what you CAN spend money on
- Get competitive with yourself and see how much you can send to the creditors every month
- Don't worry about categories!
- Saying you're on a Spending Fast® is way more fun than saying you're on a budget;)
- A Spending Fast® is an extremely effective method of paying off debt
- While a Spending Fast® is difficult you can get through it, get the debt paid off quick (relative to a budget), and get on with the life you truly want to live!
Get all the details on how to do a Spending Fast® and if you're ready to get started join the hundreds of other people who have also decided to finally change their lives by taking the Get Out of Debt Pledge. Also, be sure to head to the Community and connect with a whole slew of awesome pro-active people.
What do you think, am I completely wrong, and are budgets actually totally amazing and I have no idea what I'm missing? What's worked for you?
image (sans text) boltron