Having a budget is very freeing. It can set you and your household on a path to reaching your financial goals while helping eliminate your money stress. There are a lot of budget myths out there that at the end of the day are just excuses on why someone doesn’t want to do a budget.
- Budgets are too restrictive
- Not good with numbers and hate math
- You can’t plan for everything
- Don’t have time
- I make a lot of money, so I don’t need to budget
Budgets are too restrictive
Probably the most common one I hear is “I don’t like to budget because it is too restrictive”. While budgeting does take discipline and some self-control at the end of the day you are the one who makes the budget. A budget doesn’t just self manifest and start nagging you to stop spending money. You create a budget based on your priorities and goals and then the budget is there to remind you about what you said was important to you. A proper budget is one where you allocate money towards your wants and needs, not just your needs. Whether you are a saver or a spender we always recommend you budget for your fun and hobbies.
Not good with numbers and hate math
“I am not good with numbers.” Good news, you don’t need to be good at or even like math. Ploutos Budget does all the math for you. You just record a positive amount when you make money and record a negative amount when you spend money. That is it. Ploutos Budget will keep track of how much money you have in each category.
You can’t plan for everything
Another common one that gets brought up a lot is “I have tried to budget in the past, but there are always unforeseen expenses that pop up and throw off my budget”. To that I say, yup! Life happens and sometimes a car breaks down unexpectedly, the water heater in your house goes out, or you forgot that you had a wedding next weekend, and you still need to buy a gift. To anyone new to budgeting or anyone who tried it and quit shortly after I will say it happens to everyone, and it usually takes 3+ months of budgeting before you feel like you have a handle on it. Ploutos Budget encourages you to utilize sinking funds and always have an emergency fund. In the beginning these unforeseen expenses will throw off your budget, but the longer you budget and utilize sinking funds the less you are going to have to move money between your categories.
Don’t have time
“I don’t have time to budget.” The first couple months of budgeting it is going to take some time to set up and get the rhythm down, but after that it takes very little time each month to maintain your budget. You most certainly have time in your life to budget, whether you make the time is up to you. Just like our money, what we spend our time on says what your priorities are. If you want to take control of your personal finances then you need to invest a little time on that.
I make a lot of money, so I don’t need to budget
“I make enough money, so I don’t need to budget.” A budget isn’t only for people trying to get out of debt or people living paycheck to paycheck. Everyone needs a budget. If you use money then you need a budget. A budget is simply allocating all of your money towards your goals. If you don’t have any debt and have an excess of money each month then that is great, and I am happy for you, but you still need to give that money a job.
It is never too late to start a budget. If you have tried in the past but weren’t able to stick to it, I would encourage you to try again. Having a budget is very rewarding and can help you eliminate your financial stress.
