I’ve Never Used a Budget And I Never Will. You Don’t Need One Either
See how budgets really work
Maybe you are upset because you always come to the end of the month with $0 and have no way to save for that next vacation to Italy, invest in the USA, or put away for your retirement.
Worse yet, maybe you often fall into the red with bank debt.
Do this.
First, go on google and search for “Economy 101”.
Because if you knew what you were doing wrong with your hard-earned money by wasting nights and time, you could change.
When searching for 1001 ways to save dollars, blogs will always teach you to keep a family budget book and create budgets for various expenses.
Budgeting is for idiots
Creating budgets won’t get you anywhere. That’s right, nowhere.
Because the effort is too high and can be quite daunting.
You need to write everything down, keep accurate accounts, manage multiple bank statements, collect all invoices and receipts, manage the budget, manage time, and worst of all control your emotions.
Besides knowing what to prioritize first, you must also consider which types of expenses should be big.
Those blogs that teach you how to create budgets, suggest that your first guess what you should buy. After a month, you evaluate how the experience was with some purchases and adjust the budget.
People who have a budget waste a lot of time and expend a lot of energy on it. They think too much about the past.
Then comes the regret of spending the money saved. This regret just makes you stupid.
What no one tells you about budgeting
Budgeting is a strange exercise. But a very strange one indeed.
How do you know how much you really want to spend on something or how much is “okay to spend on this or that”?
How high should this budget be for visits to restaurants, museums, and fairs, for example? How can I orient myself?
In practice it works like this:
If I decide to spend $200 on restaurants that month and it’s not enough, I have to eliminate one or another item from my budget just to get the math right.
What do I learn from this? My budget was too low.
What is the consequence for the next month? I am increasing my budget to spend more on restaurants for this month.
And then I simply mapped out the budget again. I didn’t gain anything from that.
I could also pull myself together to stick to the budget. But how do I know it makes sense? Maybe.
Or do you think it’s a good idea to stop going to restaurants with friends and your girlfriend because you’ve already exhausted the “going out” budget?
I don’t think so.
If there is a budget, there is a great desire to increase one or more expenses, even if it is not necessary.
Now, if you are frugal when it is not enough, that is a different story.
At the end of the day, budgets are just a calculus exercise for second graders to learn how to count money. Besides, it’s expensive for everyone.
The way out of overspending
Or saving if you see fit.
There are expenses that you cannot or hardly can avoid (rent, Internet, electricity, water, gas, cell phones) You don’t need a budget for that.
You can do this by checking the contracts from time to time and changing the contracts if necessary.
The retirement provision also fits here because it is not an optional expense, but a mandatory one.
If you want to maintain your standard of living, you must determine how much you will need later and then invest. But first, invest in the US and then spend. Simple formula.
Sure, some of the expenses affect your life directly (otherwise you won’t have electricity or water in the shower tomorrow), while you won’t need your retirement provisions until you are 80.
There are expenses that are optional or the amount depends on your lifestyle.
How often do you need new clothes?
Where should you go on vacation? Italy or France?
How often do you drink champagne outside your home in the evening?
These are topics that you do once in a while and it’s okay if you ignore them for the time being.
Or ask yourself the following question before you spend any money:
Am I solving a problem with this outing?
You need to ask yourself this question if you want to do well with your money.
If you can answer that question, you won’t need a budget anymore either.
What often gets out of hand
The problem behind our spending behavior is not the question of whether it will help me at all, but what other people think of me.
Who buys nice clothes only for themselves?
Would you feel bad about your old clothes if you didn’t know anyone else?
Probably not.
You probably put on nice clothes for others to see.
This is not bad. Self-confidence matters.
You also don’t feel like annoying everyone because you always go to work in your pajamas. And when you are single, it is easier to meet someone when you are not in rags.
This is also very helpful for a new job. Of course.
I’m not saying that you should make fun of other people’s opinions, it’s just about being aware of your motivation.
And make a buying decision based on that.
Honestly check if you are choosing your vacation spot, your apartment, or your cell phone based on your own desires or if the opinion of others makes you decide.
OK, but what about tasty Pub food and breakfast in bed?
If you have the option to stay at home alone or go to a restaurant with your friends, then do so:
It is not helpful to forgo such an invitation just because you want to save money or because your budget has run out. Ask your friends if they can drink cheap drinks from the supermarket at home.
If you get into the habit of asking yourself what honestly motivates you, and whether it will make you happier, you have made the right choice.
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