I love budgeting and don’t feel restricted by my expenses. In fact, the opposite is true—I feel totally relaxed because I know my money is going into the right places. Viewing a budget as something restrictive is often tied to our relationship with money. Like money itself, a budget isn’t inherently good or bad. If we see it as a tool to help us be more intentional with our finances, why not embrace it? Even an "anti-budget" is still a form of budgeting. But you’re right, there’s no one-size-fits-all. Before managing our money, we should think about our goals and how we want to live.
I'm with you Katja. I LOVE budgeting. I use YNAB and love being intentional about where my money goes. I used to think that accounting for every dollar is for weirdos that have way to much time on their hands but now I find it really easy and fun. I have so much more peace around money and joy in spending it on things that are important to me.
I really enjoyed your article. Thank you for bringing a fresh take on money and budgeting. There is so much shame around money and how we manage it. I personally love budgeting. I use the zero based budgeting method - allocating income and giving every dollar a job. We're self employed so I use percentages rather than fixed amounts each time income comes in. We've paid off so much debt and saved an emergency fund. You're right - anytime there is a feeling of restriction or deprivation it's doomed to failure. I don't feel restricted because I feel in control of how I allocate my money according to what's most important to me. It's easy to say no to an impulse purchase because the holiday is more important to me. I guess no matter what method we use or how much we earn - that is the feeling we're all seeking - the feeling of having enough. There are plenty of people earning big dollars who don't feel that way.
Agreed! We just have to divest from budget culture first so we can start listening to ourselves instead of all the noise about what we *should* be doing with our money.
The problem with a budget for poorer people is you don't make enough money to budget. You can put X in for utilities and X in for gifts and X for medical, but if your car breaks down and you kid has to go to the ER, you're going to have to dump that budget.
I find that people with low to moderate incomes are great at budgeting—they have to be. It’s an income problem, not an individual budgeting problem. As a coach I often focus on how someone in that situation can increase their income. Telling someone who is struggling to afford the basics that they need to learn how to budget is just insulting.
Few weeks ago a close relative informed me about a credit expert who had helped several people including her to fix there credit after several attempt I tried with credit companies didn't yield any result. I got in touch with Tom via tom.lawrence114@ gmailcom to explained my financial and credit issue to him, he assured me he'll help me out I was a bit skeptical cus I wasn't sure if it truly work. Just last week he told me he has help me fix my credit, I checked to confirmed every debt, negative items/collections were cleared from my credit report and my credit increased to 800s consider as excellent by credit bureaus. This actually made my year
When you are raised by Depression era grandparents who were sharecroppers and taught you to hoard soap chips, it's kind of hard to remember that. But, I'm getting there. I just ordered you book (audible) and hard copy!
I completely agree that budgeting is not for everyone. I use software that took me over 20 years to develop. The program provides everything you need to manage every aspect of your household finances: income, spending, bills, credit cards, sinking funds, and short- and long-term savings. Instead of micromanaging the dollars in your next paycheck, with PerNetFlow you adjust your income and expenses to keep your net cashflow positive for the next 12 months. There's a free book ("A Better Way to Manage Your Everyday Money") that explains household finances and the software. I've been using PerNetFlow for a few years and cannot imagine managing our finances without it.
I love budgeting and don’t feel restricted by my expenses. In fact, the opposite is true—I feel totally relaxed because I know my money is going into the right places. Viewing a budget as something restrictive is often tied to our relationship with money. Like money itself, a budget isn’t inherently good or bad. If we see it as a tool to help us be more intentional with our finances, why not embrace it? Even an "anti-budget" is still a form of budgeting. But you’re right, there’s no one-size-fits-all. Before managing our money, we should think about our goals and how we want to live.
I'm with you Katja. I LOVE budgeting. I use YNAB and love being intentional about where my money goes. I used to think that accounting for every dollar is for weirdos that have way to much time on their hands but now I find it really easy and fun. I have so much more peace around money and joy in spending it on things that are important to me.
I really enjoyed your article. Thank you for bringing a fresh take on money and budgeting. There is so much shame around money and how we manage it. I personally love budgeting. I use the zero based budgeting method - allocating income and giving every dollar a job. We're self employed so I use percentages rather than fixed amounts each time income comes in. We've paid off so much debt and saved an emergency fund. You're right - anytime there is a feeling of restriction or deprivation it's doomed to failure. I don't feel restricted because I feel in control of how I allocate my money according to what's most important to me. It's easy to say no to an impulse purchase because the holiday is more important to me. I guess no matter what method we use or how much we earn - that is the feeling we're all seeking - the feeling of having enough. There are plenty of people earning big dollars who don't feel that way.
Absolutely!
My take is we all know very well when we are spending in a way that’s not best for us. Just don’t do that!
Agreed! We just have to divest from budget culture first so we can start listening to ourselves instead of all the noise about what we *should* be doing with our money.
The problem with a budget for poorer people is you don't make enough money to budget. You can put X in for utilities and X in for gifts and X for medical, but if your car breaks down and you kid has to go to the ER, you're going to have to dump that budget.
I find that people with low to moderate incomes are great at budgeting—they have to be. It’s an income problem, not an individual budgeting problem. As a coach I often focus on how someone in that situation can increase their income. Telling someone who is struggling to afford the basics that they need to learn how to budget is just insulting.
Being careful with money is easy. Getting a job that pays well is utterly impossible. I never managed it.
Few weeks ago a close relative informed me about a credit expert who had helped several people including her to fix there credit after several attempt I tried with credit companies didn't yield any result. I got in touch with Tom via tom.lawrence114@ gmailcom to explained my financial and credit issue to him, he assured me he'll help me out I was a bit skeptical cus I wasn't sure if it truly work. Just last week he told me he has help me fix my credit, I checked to confirmed every debt, negative items/collections were cleared from my credit report and my credit increased to 800s consider as excellent by credit bureaus. This actually made my year
I try to say spending plan instead of budget. It makes me feel less guilty about spending money.
That’s what it’s for!
When you are raised by Depression era grandparents who were sharecroppers and taught you to hoard soap chips, it's kind of hard to remember that. But, I'm getting there. I just ordered you book (audible) and hard copy!
Thank you so much! 💖
I completely agree that budgeting is not for everyone. I use software that took me over 20 years to develop. The program provides everything you need to manage every aspect of your household finances: income, spending, bills, credit cards, sinking funds, and short- and long-term savings. Instead of micromanaging the dollars in your next paycheck, with PerNetFlow you adjust your income and expenses to keep your net cashflow positive for the next 12 months. There's a free book ("A Better Way to Manage Your Everyday Money") that explains household finances and the software. I've been using PerNetFlow for a few years and cannot imagine managing our finances without it.