Why Budgets Don’t Work
December 14th, 2006 |
Perhaps you’re like me. You look at how much you spend each month and think, “I need to stick to a budget”. Ah, if I only had a dollar for each time I tried to stick to a budget. But, I digress.
Although they may seem like a great idea, budgets don’t work. Why? Because we usually spend everything we make.
Here’s a typical budget from Phil:
Phil is probably really excited about his budget. The first month passes and he’s doing great. All the bills get paid; he had plenty of spending money and a little extra.
Month two comes along and his car needs new brakes. It costs $300.00. Now Phil has a problem. How can he pay for this out of his budget?
If he’s like most people he’ll put it on a credit card and make the bigger payment next month. We all know this acts like cancer in your bank account. A few years pass Phil’s paying hundreds of dollars per month in Credit Card fees.
Let’s rework Phil’s Budget:
By having some of his income directly put into an automatic savings account, Phil has a little less spending money and a little less for food. But when the brakes go out he can cover it without turning to Visa or MasterCard.
Pay yourself first. That’s what’s different here.
If you haven’t been able to save money, why not try the Million Dollar Savings Club. You can start with only a dollar per day. If you love the idea of setting up an automatic savings account, you can see exactly how I set mine up here.
By having a good savings account you won’t be stressed out about money and you won’t need to rely on budgets. In fact everything will just take care of itself.
