Good morning everyone,
Today is a topic that is near and dear to my heart. Today we talk about the B-word. That’s right…Budgets.
Corporations use budgets to make sure they do not run out of money. This is how they are able to invest and grow, well unless their name is Enron… Using budgets corporations are able to apply income to certain business units in order to fund develop products, marketing, employee growth, legal services, etc. The reason is that corporations can not just fly by the seat of their pants and hope for the best. They need to show profits for investors, pay their employees, and out maneuver the competition. The point here is that they are very intentional to make sure they are on budget to make money work for them. I should also point out that they are pretty good at budgeting which is why their buildings are a great deal larger than our houses…
Dave Ramsey offers an amazing course called Financial Peace University that I took over a decade ago. I have applied his principals ever since taking that class. The main principal is the Budget! The budget is the foundational part about becoming a millionaire. Of all the people doing their debt free screams and the millionaire half hours 99% run off of a budget. These people are truly winning with money.
The majority of people however have a belief that budgeting as the equivalent of torture device that they don’t have time to mess with. People believe the B-word as a taboo discussion topic when it comes to family resources. I get it. I fought against using budgets until I took the class. When I learned how freeing budgets can be I was pissed at myself that I didn’t do this when I graduated college. I would have had so much more money at the end of the pay period and would have a great deal more in my retirement account. Had I started earlier on investing into retirement I would have a millions more when I retired. More on how time and compound interest works in the future. I have now been budgeting for over a decade for personal and business.
My wife and I started out our marriage with the monthly budget meeting and it has helped our communication greatly as a by-product. Communication is huge in relationships. We go through all of the line items including clothing budgets. What has been nice is that my wife gets a set amount of money that she can use to buy whatever clothes (shoes) she wants whenever she wants. It is freeing. She can use her money to buy whatever she wants with it. If she decides to buy a whole bunch of coffee, she is free to do so without me condemning her because it is her money to budget for whatever she wants! Have you ever had a fight over your significant other buying something that you haven’t agreed on? It sucks having those fights and ending up on the couch for the night, or worse the cold shoulder!
Budgeting has been one of the single most effective ways for my wife and I to prepare for emergencies, taking vacations, and date nights. Recently we had to pay for the foundation our our house to be fixed which cost thousands of dollars which we were able to pay cash for because we budgeted for. It has brought us closer as we talk about our future dreams and actually budget to make it a reality. That is right budgeting gives you HOPE for a better future.
We give the kids a budget for clothing and after school activities that they can manage how they choose. They just need make sure they can afford it. If they don’t have enough money, then they can’t do the activity. Now the emotion is taken out of the discussion and the focus is on saving up so they can do that activity in the future. My hope is that they will keep budgeting for the rest of their life so they can retire with even more money that my wife and me.
What is keeping you from sitting down and doing a budget?
Do you not have the time?
Does it seem like you don’t know where to start?
What if I told you that if you emailed me, I would send you a FREE excel file that you could budget.
Would that be helpful for you?
Email me at info@kevinsidebottom.com and put “Free Budget Worksheet” in the subject line. Don’t worry i will not add you to a mailing list for doing this. I am here to help you get to a better place in your journey.
Have a safe and happy Memorial Weekend!
Sincerely,
Kevin Sidebottom