Fear isn’t a word associated too often with budgeting, but for me, I’ve had my fair share of budgeting fear, anxiety, and downright terror. I’ve been nearly bankrupted, saved by my acceptance that I made that mess and I had to be the one to clean up, which is where my adventures with living a real life on a budget begin.
I’ve accumulated mountains of debt and I’ve paid off Mount Everest-sized debt. I’ve worked extremely hard to build up a savings account, only to watch it be depleted quickly when an emergency came up.
I’ve had to make tough choices between feeding myself, paying bills, or putting gas in my car to get me to work. I’ve had my checking account drained of nearly all its money by a case of mistaken identity.
I’ve stayed up countless nights wondering how I can generate more money so I don’t have work so dang hard just to afford to the simple life. I’ve seen the darkness and felt the coldness of financial hell and have had to climb my way out, but that doesn’t mean that the fear has left me.
You see, budgeting is an amazing tool for helping us not only know how much money we have (or don’t have) and for helping us make the most out of what we’ve got, but sometimes, we don’t realize that fear cripples us from making the right budget.
Life is full of unknowns. Some seasons of life are harder than others. Some seasons are full of abundant bliss and financial peace while others are full of darkness and praying pleading prayers of deliverance in the form of a pay raise.
Fear cripples us. We know that and have no doubt heard that countless times, but fear does in fact make us unable to help ourselves – unable to grasp a lifeline we so desperately need.
Some folks would rather make a pretty budget, fail to stick to it, and then say “when I have more money I’ll budget – it’s not worth it until then”. The truth is that you’ll never have enough money. There are folks making seven-figure salaries that are kept awake at night by financial instability so don’t fool yourself into thinking that you’ll know how to manage your money “when you make more” if you don’t know how to manage the little bit you have today.
Other folks work hard at budgeting and maintaining their budgets only be met with failure – the car breaks down, the kids get sick, the dog needs surgery, and the A/C breaks. They keep trying and before long, they’re exhausted, burned-out and just flat-out done with managing their money. “Heck, it was easier when we didn’t care so much.”
I’ve been at both of these places and I can tell you from experience, that budgeting is no walk in the park. It’s not easy managing your money – sure there are definitely times when it seems we can go on auto-pilot and financial peace is easy, but life is full of ups and downs. We just have to learn how to ride the rollercoaster.
To avoid the fear that comes with budgeting – the fear that creeps up on us when we’re exhausted from trying so hard, the fear that keeps us awake at night, the fear that cripples us into doing nothing about our finances – make preparation your best friend.
You know yourself and chances are, you know your spouse, so you know how each of you works best whether money is involved or not. So prepare for budgeting challenges by doing what will work best for you. Here’s my list of where to start working:
- Having a fully-funded emergency fund.
- Zero or close-to-zero debt.
- A budget that you’re not afraid to change as life throws dirt in your face. (OCD and Type-A’s – it really is okay to change your budget mid-month. I know it’s challenging – I’m a Type-A with an accounting degree – but it’ll make managing your money easier)
- A clear understanding of yours and your family’s spending habits – know who the saver and the spender is and know what each of your weaknesses are (yes, even savers have spending weaknesses) and work hard to keep them in check.
- Learn how to make do with what you have now. Find contentment and peace with where you are today – it’s where God designed you to be.
Life is hard, budgeting is hard work, and there are no guarantees in life. We just have to make the best out of what we’ve been handed and when we come out on the other side, we have to look back with eyes eager to learn and grow from there.
What encouragement can you offer to those currently dealing with the battle between fear and budgeting?
Despite blogging about our debt, reading this and many other PF blogs for almost two years, (plus your budgeting books!), I’m new to budgeting. This is only the second month we’ve had a budget, and there’s definitely work to be done, still. (At what point will I get good enough to remember EVERY expense when I put the budget together??) For me, finally doing the budget helped with my fear. So much of the things I fear have to do with anticipation and the unknown. Finally confronting the truth, and often realizing that things I’ve been dreading aren’t as hard or scary as I imagined, helps me a lot.
Oh I love this Amy! You hit the nail on the head – and I know that I usually fail remembering every single expense, but it definitely gets easier over time. 🙂
This is a really great post, Jessi. I think I feel this way sometimes despite knowing that it’s not helpful. My student loan debt is so massive that it scares me and cripples me. Starting a blog has helped tremendously but I still constantly think about how I can do and make more.
You are a rockstar Natalie! I love hearing and watching your success with your student loans – you’re a true inspiration to so many! 🙂
I created my first “real/actual” budget using Dave Ramsey’s online EVERY DOLLAR tool. Since October is my first month of using a budget, mine seems to be more about exactly WHERE I’m spending my money, not the actual regular expenses. I am still spending more on grabbing foods on the go instead of preparing foods at home and having snacks and meals with me during the day when I’m out and about (I’m retired). Two really money drains have been buying art supplies and books on Amazon and Ebay and Etsy. I made the decision to not purchase anything via PayPal in October and so far, it has worked except for 1 purchase via Etsy. My Amazon credit card has only been used for auto payments for Netflix and Apple Clould Storage. I purchased 2 second hand dressers in excellent condition from a friend and paid for them with the sales of some estate sale purchases I made in August and am now trying to recoup my money. Note to self: Only buy what you are going to actually use for personal projects and what you (me) absolutely know you can actually turn around for a profit. I had a large credit card payment due in October and was able to pay that one and since I’m not shopping online at Amazon, the regular monthly payment for Netflix and iCloud storage will be manageable. And I’ll now be able to save more money and spend less.
My fair was always not having enough to pay for my bills! I guess that pushed me to save, plan and budget my finances and it has given great results. I truly believe in side hustles and entrepreneurship as well. Making money on my own terms has changed my family’s life. Although I still work in a corporate field as well, my blog (that I launched almost 10 months ago) generates pretty decent income already. It has been a huge blessing to my family and helped us to increase our savings. Best way to overcome your fairs is to face it and take action.
I am totally one of the Type A people who struggled with changing the budget to fit our current needs. I would think, “There HAS to be a way to make this work.” When in reality, adjusting your budget midstream can save a lot of money and headaches. Thanks for the reminder!
You’re so welcome Sarah and I’m a total type-A so the reminder is just as much for me as for our fellow type-A’ers. 🙂