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I have a budget.
And I enjoy my budget.
And I really like tracking my spending, getting great deals, improving our financial situation and making progress because I have a financial roadmap. But there are some out there who don’t find any value with all the hassle it takes to log into Mint.com and look at where their money is going. I mean, seriously, 5 minutes is a CRAP LOAD of time, and it can’t be wasted getting a snapshot of my entire financial picture so I can make sound financial decisions!!! What a waste. My time is just too valuable for that.
This one’s for you.
Too Rich For A Budget
Budgeting takes some emotional maturity. I mean, first of all, you have to acknowledge that your head isn’t a ledger and your mind doesn’t contain a detailed aggregation of your entire financial life. You also need to realize that no matter how much money you have, you might possibly be wasting it. And you also need to know that your spending might be downright ugly. It’s tough to sometimes face those realities. Budgets are financial mirrors, and they show every wrinkle and crease in your old, saggy spending habits. Can you handle that?
If not, don’t worry, you’re probably too rich to have to worry about this stuff anyway. I mean, who cares if you’re leaking hundreds a month out of your accounts like a backed up toilet. Just let that crap spill everywhere, mop it up and throw it away. Doesn’t matter where it goes after that, because those dollars didn’t have a purpose.
So continue enjoying life, because budgets are buzz-kills. You make money so you must know what you’re doing with it. Don’t let those lame financial nerds be all like “get on a budget” or “invest your money”. That crap do they know?
The Problem
You’ve got money, you’re saving some and your net worth is growing. By all accounts, you’re moving in the right direction. A budget is just a cramp in your style. Why fix it if it ain’t broke?!
But here’s the problem. You’re working too hard to NOT have a budget! If you make good money, why in the world would you NOT plan every hard-earned dollar that leaves your hands? How much is your time worth again? If you keep leaking hundreds or even thousands of dollars per month, you are wasting something MUCH more valuable than money. You are wasting TIME!
Say your time is worth $50 an hour. That’s over $100,000 per year if you’ve got full-time hours. Your job is high-profile or very technically challenging, you definitely earn every one of those $50 per hour. Why would you waste those hours on a bunch of untracked spending and waste? For every $50 you spend that you don’t really know where it goes, you have to slave away one more hour at the office. I mean, you could be working 3 or 4 unnecessary days per month because you don’t have a budget to tell your money where to go! Get over the mental hurdle of wasting time on a budget and realize you are wasting MUCH more valuable time by NOT having one.
The Solution
Everyone needs a budget. Of that I am convinced. Not every budget looks the same, and people all have different financial plans. But if you don’t start somewhere, you won’t really go anywhere. If you don’t set goals, then what are you doing with your life?
These are big questions, and can extend far beyond finances. But let’s start somewhere simple. Let’s start somewhere practical. Let’s start with a budget.
photo credit: Tom Wolf | Photography via photopin cc
My brother and sister-in-law are “too rich for a budget.” I think they make almost 200K now (in Indiana where it’s super cheap to live) and they spend every penny of it. And, they keep making more so they don’t see the problem!
Does their last name happen to be….”Jones”?
Great post.
As a financial counselor I heard similar refrains from people who were definetely not ‘too rich’ for a budget. But they’d say things like ‘I don’t want to become one of those people who track every penny and don’t enjoy life.’
I told them that if they didn’t budget and track thier spending they are showing a lack of commitment to themselves, their spouse, and thier family. You need to know that every dollar spent is going to something necessary; otherwise, it’s just delaying your dreams and the dreams of your family.
The message got through a few times …
Tracking every penny and enjoying life are not mutually exclusive. I’d argue that NOT tracking your money and making a budget plan is making you enjoy your life LESS. I have have MUCH more fun since I got on a budget!
i never thought i was too rich for a budget.. but for a while there (back a few years ago), i thought that they were just an unnecessary burden.
but if you spend like a fool.. you won’t stay in a good place financially for very long. budgets are certainly for everyone.
YES AND YES! 🙂
That was awesome Jake, couldn’t have said it better myself. I read the first paragraph out loud to my wife because I couldn’t stop laughing. It’s true, budgeting doesn’t take long at all and it can’t be done in our heads. I don’t know many successful businesses that can pull off accounting without an accountant. do you? Our financial picture is similar to that of a business. If we want to be successful we need to know where the money is going, how much we are making and where we need to improve. It’s not something I can do in my head nor ever plan to try. Have a great day mate… cheers! CBB
Thanks Mr. CBB. And yes, if you were the CFO of your family, could you tell the shareholders (your family) with any accuracy the financial health of the company?
Budgets are awesome! Why wouldn’t people want to keep one! 🙂
I agree with you. The spate of celebrity bankruptcies go to show that money management and budgeting are more important than a high income in building long term wealth.
The more you make, the more your mistakes with money can cost 🙂
We don’t often know how a fool and his money get together, but it’s usually easy to trace why they separate. 🙂
Good post!
Agreed!
If a budget can help me see where my money is go and maybe save some more, I don’t see anything wrong with it. I get so much detailed information about our income and spending habits that planning and saving are way easier and effective.
There are no net negatives to having a budget. None.
You’re absolutely right. No matter where your financial situation is, having a budget is just good money management.
Logic wins! 🙂
Everyone should have some sort of a budget. If you are spending more or close to what you make, you’ll never get ahead!
Budgets are awesome! And freeing!
I love that part at the end about budgeting saving you time. I’ve never thought about it like that but you’re spot on. Really cool way of thinking about it.
It helps me stop before any purchase and think “Is this worth xxx hours of my life?”
Couldn’t agree more. I know a lot of people who say they don’t have time for a budget, and I wonder if they have time to earn more money because they are probably wasting a lot of it…
Budget = more time. Not sure how people don’t get that!
Budgets are key to reaching your goals, especially the big ones like buying a house, car, college for kids or other large purchases.
And they help stop leaks and give you more time back! 🙂
I may be an anomaly, but I do not have a traditional budget! Don’t misunderstand, I recognize that a budget is the structure to help you reach your financial goals. I just approach it differently because I am a former CFO. I set my goal of maxing out retirement savings and set up a payroll deduction and live on what is left. I constantly review my expenses and make adjustments accordingly. I already achieved my financial freedom, but set new goals.
You are definitely miles ahead of the target audience of this post. You literally are living on the leftover money after your savings goals, which is a pretty AWESOME budget plan! This was for those who couldn’t be bothered to look at their financial picture and figure out where they could possibly be wasting, but instead just resolve to “get there someday” with more hard work. You have a plan, they do not. I commend your financial discipline, a great example to us all here!
You can never be too rich for a budget, especially if you want to remain that way. I never see money as a steady fixture in my life, I know that no matter how good my financial standing is at the moment, there is always that possibility that it will not always remain that way and I need to prepare for that. So, if you’ll ask me if I still need to have a budget if my income becomes more than I can spend… I do.
Right on Robert!
I LOVE THIS LINE: “Budgets are financial mirrors, and they show every wrinkle and crease in your old, saggy spending habits.”
You deserve the Plutus Award for the most “call it like it is” Canadian personal financial blog!
Here’s a cold hard dash of water in the face. Total the amount of gross earnings over the last ten years. Then ask yourself, what do I have to show for all that cash?
It’s eye opening especially for people 40 and older who have saved next to nothing for retirement.
Awww, shucks! Thanks Ree! I’d totally love that award (though I’m in the USA 🙂 ) It’s sometimes scary to look at your spending, but it’s SO FREEING! I recommend everyone do it!
Oh, excellent points!!! The only times I have ever wanted to stop budgeting is when I was being naughty financially – budgets show you everything. Luckily, I haven’t stopped. So I do have records of some pretty naughty months that shocked us into being way better for months at a time!
I do love looking back for patterns in my old budgets. Especially seeing when I messed up!
I’ll go ahead and disagree with you. Like krantcents, we don’t have a budget. Just because we don’t doesn’t mean we don’t have a handle on where our money is going. We set savings targets.
Also, I found mint to be inaccurate and a PITA. They were always missclassifying things as interest charges or bank fees and then trying to sell me other products.
You are definitely ahead of most without a budget. You have set goals, and you make sure to hit them. The only way to do that is to direct your money where you want it to go. Which means you’ve got a budget! 🙂
Mint takes a little massaging, but is a GREAT snapshot of where were are at any time, and allows us to make plans based on our entire financial picture. I also love their net worth tracking 🙂
I certainly agree with your assertion of everyone needing a budget of some kind. Am one of those people who have learnt a hard lesson by not properly budgeting earlier in life. You look back and see the waste and start imagining just how far you’d have been financially if you had just budgeted!
Then again, when you hit on hard times, epiphanies hit you like a summer’s dawn.
For budgeting, I’m using Toshl Finance app. it’s a good finance app
For iPhone?