Budgeting 101 | How to make a budget | Dave Ramsey
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Budget 101
Hello everyone! Thank you for stopping by and reading my blog!
A budget is a bad word in a lot of people’s homes. When you start discussing a budget people start squirming in their seats and become very uncomfortable. People think of a budget as something that is restrictive and is going to take away their fun.
What does our culture say?
In our culture of do whatever feels good: eat what you want when you want, and spend money on what you want, when you want; and if you can’t afford, just buy it now and pay later. This is our culture’s mindset. I do not know many people who do not have a credit card in their wallet. We rarely think about if we have money for an item, we just buy it and figure it out later.
When I talk to my friends about a budget, what is interesting is almost all of them will say that they are on a budget. I am always surprised to hear this based on how I see them spend their money, so I inquire further. They tell me that they spend their money and throughout the month they keep track of where their money is going. Friends! I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but this is NOT a budget. A budget is never reactive, a budget is always proactive.
So, what is a budget?
It is planning in advance how you are going to spend every dollar of your income. A budget is a plan! Plans happen before you an event, not after. A budget is not restrictive in and of itself. All a budget is, is you telling your money where to go. So, if a budget is restrictive, it is because you created it that way. Whatever your priorities are is what you make a priority for in your budget.
A budget is able to allow you to spend your money on the things that are important to you instead of letting the day to day expenses eat away at all your money. Just so that we are clear, a budget is not spending your money and tracking it as you go or reconciling your account at the end of the month. A budget is proactive, not reactive!
How often should you do a budget?
You should set aside time, literally schedule it on your calendar, to go over your budget every month, before the month starts. My husband and I do our budget around the last Sunday of the month, depending on where the Sunday falls for that month. We like to do this about a week before the next month starts.
Who should you do the budget with?
Who you should do your budget with depends, if you are married, then you should do the budget with your spouse. If you are single, then try to find someone who will be your accountability partner. You cannot do the budget by yourself if you are married, it will never work! You and your spouse have to be on the same page with the budget. It doesn't matter if you are the one that is better with the finances or not, you both need to be involved in the decision making of where your money is going. It is not right for one spouse to dictate where all the money is going to be spent. The other spouse needs to know what the plan is and be able to weigh in their opinion about how much money goes into the different categories. You are both adults and more importantly a team in this thing called marriage, so act like it. 😉
How do you get your spouse involved?
It can be so challenging when you have one paddle and you’re trying to row the boat by yourself. Meanwhile it feels as though your spouse is trying as hard as they can to row the other way. You are not united, and your boat is just going in circles. What do you do? How can you make your spouse start rowing in the direction that you want them to row? What is interesting, is they thinking the same thing about you. From their perception they are just trying to get in this one direction, but you are rowing them a different way.
It may seem obvious but, to get anywhere in your marriage, you need to both be rowing in the same direction. You may never see life the same way or have the same opinion about everything, but you can make strives to row in the same direction. As hard as it can be, you can’t sit in the boat and declare that the direction you want to go is the right direction and your spouse is wrong. If you start off your conversation this way, you are not only going to offend your spouse (an offended person is harder to win over than a fortified city), but they are probably not going to “see the light” and start rowing the way you want to go.
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THANK YOU GUYS!!