How Much Money is Enough?

I am so excited that my friend Stephanie from Six Figures Under (seriously, her site amazing if you’re trying to become debt-free) is allowing me to borrow a little of her blog space today. She just had an adorable baby girl so make sure you wish her well! 🙂 

How much money is enough money?

Seems like a simple enough question, but the problem is not the question itself, it is the ideology behind the question. “Enough money” implies that you do not have enough money right now, which granted may very well be true, but sitting around waiting on a money tree to start growing in your backyard is not going to help you manage your money any better.

I used to think “when I start making more money then I’ll budget. After all, you have to have money in order to budget, right?” Wrong. Totally dead wrong.

My daddy always told me growing up that “money just makes you more of what you already are”. In other words, if you are spender now, you will be a spender later when you “have money”, so you better make sure you know how to manage money before you have it. If you like to take risky risks with your money now that continually leave you scraping by, you will do the same thing when you have more money “to play with”.

More money just allows you to keep doing what you are already doing just with more money. Therefore, your situation is not going to change nor improve when you have more money. If you want a better life for yourself now, you have to stop waiting and start doing.

The first budget I ever made is when I was completely broke and about to be evicted from my apartment. My first budget saved my life because it made me take ownership of my stupidity with money. It gave me the roadmap and direction I needed to manage my money.

Not sure where to start with budgeting? Keep it simple. Start with tallying up your expenses (taking three-month averages for bills/expenses that do not have a set payment every month) and then tally up your monthly income. From there, subtract your income from your expenses.

It is not a fancy way of budgeting, but it works. It is a simple process that allows you take ownership of your money. Budgeting does not, nor should it be complicated. A simple budget will give you the roadmap to success with money.

Continue reading over at Six Figures Under here.

 Linked Up To: The Thrifty Couple, Thrifty Thursday