Living On A Budget: Don’t Knock It Until You Try It

Feb 07 2008

Posted by NCN as Budget |

My fellow members of the Money Blog Network are writing articles about budgets and budgeting.

As most of my readers know, I’m a little ‘old school’. I don’t use credit cards. I don’t borrow money. I use cash. And, I live on a budget.

Each month, I sit down at my computer and ‘map-out’ the month.

I list my monthly income and then I list expected monthly expenses.

At the end of the month, I take a ‘look back’ - looking for areas where I over- or under-estimated.

I use a budget for three reasons -

1. I struggle with organization, and using a budget helps me to stay organized.

2. My wife and I work on the budget together, and it gives us a chance to talk (about money, life, finances, etc.). Having a monthly ‘business meeting’ helps keep us focused and on the same ‘team’.

3. I have found that when I ‘write it down’, I spend less money, period.

I would strongly urge you to ‘give budgeting a try’ - especially if you are new to personal finance management. I think you’ll find that using a budget ‘frees your mind’ to think about more important things - like friends, faith, and family.

Here are a few articles that I’ve written about creating and using a budget -

How To Create A Budget If You Have Irregular Income

Annual Expenses: When Dividing By 12 Doesn’t Work

Simple - A Simple Zero-Based Budget

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4 Responses

SavingDiva

February 7th, 2008 at 2:50 pm
1

I require a budget too….otherwise, my spending would get out of control! In February, I’ve been writing down everything that I spend money on…it’s really helped me keep things in perspective. I don’t know if I can constantly write everything down…usually I just collect receipts and look at credit card charges to piece together my spending at the end of the month.
Married Girl

February 7th, 2008 at 7:51 pm
2

If you ever want to tape that budget meeting with your wife, I’d love to hear it. We’ve tried it, and honestly, my husband and I communicate so differently, it’s difficult. I’m an accountant, he’s an artist. Neither of us is ‘wrong’ in our money perspectives, just think about it differently. It makes it difficult and usually ends with me taking charge of it and him not being invovled, which is frustrating because he never knows when we run out of money and I feel responsible when we’re short.
Outlook

February 8th, 2008 at 4:20 am
3

Monthly budget is necessary otherwise your spending can go out control. But it is not a easy task to maintain your budget.
Ken

February 8th, 2008 at 2:28 pm
4

I agree, don’t knock it until you try it. In the book “Millionaire Next Door”, the authors state that millionaires became millionaires by budgeting and living below their means. And after becoming millionaires they continued to budget. That is the way they know how much they spend. It doesn’t matter how much you make, what matters is how much you spend. And you control your spending with a budget.