Using the "B" Word

"You keep using that word, I do not think it means what you think it means."

Do you have money? Then you need a budget. Do you have opinions on where you want your money to go? Then you need a budget. Maybe you have dreams that someday you want to:

• Travel the world
• Buy a house
• Not worry about money
• Buy a beautiful rug
• Fund your kid’s college

Then you need a budget.

I don’t know who to blame, but at some point, “budget” became a bit of a swear word, like this dictator that tells you “You can’t buy that” or “You can’t have that much fun.” 

Imagine someone invites you to a party. You check your calendar and see you have your best friend’s wedding that day. Would your response be “I’m sorry, my calendar said I can’t go to your party. I have to be careful with my time.” 

Hopefully not. 

You could just tell the person, “Oh no, I can’t that day! Could we get together another time though? I would love to see you!” 

Our calendar helps us protect our time. It reminds us of the things we would like to attend, work things we really can’t miss, birthdays and big events  of people that are important to us. We don’t attend something because “the calendar made me do it”. We go because we want to see that person, or that event looked absolutely fascinating, or it’s important to show up for our job.

Just like we don’t blame our calendar for saying “yes” or “no” to certain events, we need to stop blaming our budget for saying “yes” or “no” to certain purchases. The budget isn’t telling you not to spend money on that beautiful rug, you decided that you didn’t quite have the money for it yet... because you also value the freedom that comes with having a car, the comfort of a nice home, and the vacation you are planning next summer.

The thing about money is: it is finite. We only have x amount of dollars in the bank (or under our mattress). It’s the same thing with time - we all have 24 hours in the day, and our calendar helps us keep track of what we’ve decided to do with those hours. Our budget helps us keep track of what we’ve decided to do with our money.

Our budgets are amazing things that help us say, “Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. I’m skilled at budgeting. I’m prepared to buy.”

So I challenge you. Stop seeing your budget as this evil dictator, or some annoying kill-joy. Start using it to fund your dreams. Start using it to prepare for the super awesome (but a tiny bit nerve-wracking) events in life. Start using it to say yes to what you really want to spend your money on. After all, that's what it's there for.

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