Your body just cringed. Maybe your stomach just did a flip. Or are your shoulders all of a sudden tense? All because I said the word budget. We have been conditioned into thinking that a budget means we don’t get to do the things we want to do and we have to cut back or eliminate all the fun out of our life. This actually isn’t the case at all. A budget allows us to have even more fulfillment than we ever thought was possible. We are able to tell our money where to go and provide focus and intention behind our actions.
A budget provides the opportunity of choice.
What if we take a moment and think about what a budget allows us to do.
We…
SEE where our money goes.
SAY where we WANT our money to go.
SPEND our money the way we want to.
When we put our expenses into a budget, we are given the choice of where we want our money to go rather than it just disappearing and wondering where it went. This is different than what we are used to.
A different habit which will lead to a wall or refusal and feeling like you were punched in the gut.
I hate to say this, but that is completely normal AND when you feel this, you are on the correct path. Growing ourselves is uncomfortable because our mind doesn’t know how to categorize our new habit. Therefore, it categorizes it as fear purely because it is unrecognized.
This is a good thing.
Change happens in this moment.
This moment is sacred because you get to choose….to keep going or to stop.
Ask yourself this, how do you want to feel when money comes up in your mind? How do you want to feel when the topic pops up with your partner?
Calm, happy, prosperity, wealth, proud, empowered.
If you named any of these, you are in the right place. Keep going. As a Personal Wealth Coach, I come across these problems often.
Five simple steps to a fulfilling life on a budget.
- Establish what, why and how. What do you want to get out of this? Why is this so important now? How do you want to feel when you achieve this?
- Calculate out how much you make in month (your income).
- List all your non-negotiable expenses (rent, mortgage, insurance, food, utilities, gas, etc.)
- Subtract from monthly income.
- With whatever is left over, you get to choose where you’d like to spend it. Give every dollar you earn a place to go.
A budget provides the focus to know where your money is going. It allows you to tell it where you want it to go, rather than it disappearing. A budget is also a living document, meaning it is something that changes every month because no month is ever exactly the same.
It takes about three rounds of creating your budget for it to stick with you. The first month is going to feel like a hot mess, the second a little better, and the third feeling more like you’ve got it.
Keep your eye on your why. Stay close to that why – it will be worth it in the end.
Virtual High Five
