Simple Systems

My Top 3 Budgeting Tips

Has budgeting never worked for you?

It never worked for me.

It felt like I was in handcuffs, and unable to enjoy life as I was living it.

I’m not one of those people that wants to scrimp my pennies away until retirement . . . I want to live big now, enjoy life now, and schedule mini retirements and experiences into my life while I’m still healthy enough to enjoy them!

So, Elisha’s and my main goal has been growing our income, instead of saving our income.

Until now.

With budgeting, you can have your cake and eat it too!

We just needed a couple of perspecive shifts and ONE really awesome tool. Ready?

Saying “No” to Something is Saying “Yes” to Something Better

When you say “no” to that coffee, that $5 pizza for easy dinner, that extra tank top at Target, you’ve gotta be saying “yes” to something that makes it worth it!

Budgeting isn’t going to work if all you are doing is going around like a monk denying yourself any worldly pleasure.

DON’T say, “no, no, no.” Say “yes” to that family ski vacation! Say “yes” to that $500 spa in Maui (Elisha’s and my personal weakness). Shout “yes!” to an extravagant anniversary this year!

The little dollars flow through our hands so easily, but they stack up! Those little, tiny, dollars turn into big memories and experiences that you say, “no” to by NOT being on a budget.

By reigning in our spending on groceries, coffee, eating out, and extra trivial expenses for only a couple months, Elisha and I have said yes to a 17 day vacation in Southern California this January!

Make your “Yes” something that makes it easy to say “no.”

When We Don’t Budget, We Don’t Get The Full Joy of Spending

Think budgeting takes the fun out of spending? Think again.

A LOT is possible on a little income if we siphon the full joy of spending every dollar.

That new car, the fun vacations, the bigger house . . . they are the result of $5 here and $2 there being tucked away.

Or, we can spend thoughtlessly on a $4.47 freezer meal, a $15 trip to Panda Express, or a extra gadget that is going to collect dust.

We don’t register optimal joy from spending, when we don’t even register we are spending.

Having a place for every dollar, makes every dollar so much more meaningful! 

Do Not Budget Monthly 

Okay, here’s the tip I promised you. It’s simple, but will turn your budgeting life upside down!

When Elisha and I budgeted monthly, we’d use up our “eating out money” the first week and a half! After all, it was in the budget! Then, on our road trip to his parents’ later that month, we had to go over budget because I HAD TO EAT at Chipotle . . . or dinner burned . . . or we were already over budget anyway . . .

Same with groceries.

I’d spend $180 my first week of the month, only to discover I somehow ran out of groceries  a week and a half from the end of the month!

Whoops. Guess I was overspending again.

Enter: Budgeting Weekly 

This will change your budgeting life, or I don’t know what will.

Take your current monthly grocery budget, (say ours is $300) and divide it by Four. That is your new weekly budget!

Now, when I go to the grocery store, I only have $75 to spend that week. But if we run out of eggs, who cares? There’s only two days left of the week anyways!

Same with eating out. We can wait a couple days to eat out again. It’s much harder to wait for weeks at a time!

You can do without anything for a couple days . . .

I now love budgeting, and hope that you’ll love it too!

What are some of your favorite budgeting tips?

 

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5 thoughts on “My Top 3 Budgeting Tips

  1. I like the weekly budgeting idea! I also like that you mention the truth about saving on many “little” things in order to say yes to the big things that you will enjoy and remember.

    How do I ” like” your blog entries, Kathryn? I click on like, but the number does not increase. I clicked twice on the like for this entry, but it still says 0~zip, zero!

    In case you have not noticed, I just discovered these blog entries. What do I need to do to receive notices of your entries?

    Your fan,
    Grams

    1. Haha, thanks, Grams! I’m a big fan of YOU!

      I’m honestly unsure of how to “follow” my blog. I have been trying to figure it out myself, and when I do, I’ll let you know!

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