4 Reasons You Aren't Budgeting and Why It's Hurting You

One of the main things that stopped me from budgeting was that I thought it was just something that was supposed to tell me no all the time. I thought that it would be the end to life as I knew it and that it was going to take a lot of time to manage.

The only thing right about my assumptions was that life would be completely different. But little did I know, it was about to get so much better! If I would have known that I would have started much sooner and if you’re not already budgeting, I’m here to show you why you should start one today.

When we become intentional with our spending we ensure that we get to do more of what we love most! We actually save for the vacations that we have been dreaming about for years. We might even save for a down payment on a new home or invest in ourselves by going back to school. No matter your goals, a budget helps get you there so much more quickly while remaining out of debt!

Here are four things you might be telling yourself that has stopped you from creating a budget. But don’t worry, personal finance is something we aren’t taught about so no wonder why we aren’t always good at it. 

Budgeting just tells me want I can’t buy

A budget would only tell you no for a couple of reasons; 1) it’s not something that you said was important enough to start saving for it or 2) it costs more than you were planning to spend. When I help people create a budget, we are sure to include our goals, hobbies and things we love most in life. So you’re only telling yourself no to something that you once said wasn’t important. If things changed, let’s make room for it in the budget!

I am always overspending

When you overspend on your budget it might be because you didn’t estimate the correct amount for a certain category. Help yourself out by putting in a bit of effort to see how much money you need for each category, and the 90-Day Expense Tracker can help with this. You can also overspend if you aren’t checking in on your budget. Set five minutes aside a couple of times a week to see where you are at with your spending.

I don’t have enough money to budget

Believe or not, everyone no matter their income benefits from budgeting. It’s easy to think that you’ll start budgeting once you make “more money” but that day never seems to come. And in fact, we don’t magically become better with our finances because we make more money. No matter your income, get started with a zero-based budget to ensure every dollar you make is working to create your dream life.

I’m too afraid of what I’ll find

This is a real one and since it’s emotional it can take some time to overcome. One thing I would say is that nothing gets better as it is being ignored. We don’t just wake up with more in savings or less debt, we have to be intentional for these things to happen. So what do we do about it? We dig in, giving ourselves grace and we start working to improve our situation. It’s usually not as scary as we think it is and having the knowledge can help our situation change rather quickly! 

So what can you do today to be just a little bit better? Maybe you look into your spending, clarify your goals or look into increasing your income. Whichever you choose, just choose one thing and get started. You won’t regret it!

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