To People Who Want to make a Personal budget but Can’t Get Started (7 Budgeting Excuses and How to get past them)
By: Wathira Kibiru
Tags: Budget, Personal Finance, Personal Budget, Finance, How To Budget

But why would the richest people in the world need a budget?

They became millionaires by budgeting and controlling expenses, and they maintain their affluent status the same way.

How about the those millionaires who don't budget? We will look at this later in this post.

If you are convinced that budgeting is key to achieving financial freedom it’s time to look at your excuses for not budgeting and ways to overcome them.

Thinking of a budget as restrictive/limiting

On the contrary a budget gives you permission to spend money without guilt or regret.

If you avoid budgeting because it makes you feel deprived, blame it on human nature. The brain views a budget as a way to be deprived and it's not human nature to enjoy deprivation.

Brad Klontz, a psychologist and certified financial planner told The Science of Us, "the concept of budgeting arouses similar emotions to those of a diet. Deprivation, suffering, agony, and depression."

To overcome, you will need to get the right mindset for budgeting. Brad Klontz recommends working with your psychology instead of against it. Call it a spending plan instead of a budget. Instead of figuring out where to cut back, think about what you want to spend.

You will also need motivation for a lasting change and this is where your goals come in. Focus on what you want out of your life. When you have clear goals, examine how you can move around your money in a way that will help you realize your goals.

The proper mindset for a budget/spending plan is that it supports your goals and gives you a sense of control over your finances. So, a budget isn’t limiting but liberating because even if you spend money on an eat-out, you planned for it. You will not feel guilty because that is where your money was supposed to go. And when you are saying no to some things that aren’t in support of your goals, you are allowing yourself to say yes to your meaningful goals. It is saying yes to the right things and your goals decide what those things are.

2. Don’t know where to start

There is a first time for everything

You can feel overwhelmed by the idea of budgeting but there isn’t one right way to create a budget. However, all approaches follow some techniques namely; prioritizing, tracking, and rewarding.

If you know what your goals are, then you prioritize your choices in a way that reflects the life you want. Your budget will simply be a collection of choices you make to get the life that you want.

Next is tracking your expenses to know where your money goes. Do you know how much money you spent last month and how do you feel about it?

Well according to research, 3 in 5 Americans don't know how much they spent last month. And 31% of those who knew how much they spent, regret how they did.

Image source: mint

So tracking your expenses will help you realize which transactions are contributing to the life you want and which are keeping it away. You're therefore tracking your progress and correcting where necessary.

Next, you can reward yourself when you hit a milestone.

3. Afraid of the truth you’ll find

“It is always better to face the truth, no matter how uncomfortable, than to continue coddling a lie.” lou Holtz

Do you know your credit score? What if by the time you’re done with your income and expenses columns you have a negative difference? You are deep in debt?

Nobody enjoys facing cold, hard facts like these. It is intimidating and stressful. Money has been identified as a major source of stress for the majority of people. Given human nature to avoid what brings us stress, it makes sense to avoid examining your expenses for fear of what you’ll find. But turning a blind eye to money can’t be a solution because the longer problems are left unattended, the worse the situation is likely to get.



Having the fear of what you’ll find if you take a closer look at your finances should be a cue that you probably need to.

4. Past failures at budgeting

“Failure is simply the opportunity to begin again, this time more intelligently.” Henry Ford

Like any behavior change, you get better with time and you shouldn't beat yourself up for not getting it right the first time.

You can start simply. You don't need a highly detailed budget in which you allocate for every single expense. Nick Holeman, a certified financial planner at Betterment says, " Set your goals, make sure that you’re saving enough to reach them, and don’t worry about the day-to-day expenses." This is the pay yourself first strategy.

Kimmie Greene, money expert at Intuit has similar advice. Speaking to CNBC, she says “People can get hyper-focused on spending and think, ‘How much am I spending on Uber versus taking the bus?’ Or, ‘How much am I spending on coffee?” which is one of the reasons you might find it exhaustive and boring. Her advice is to Make sure you are getting to the savings goals that matter to you at that point in life and not get too overboard in scrutinizing your every expense.

For most millionaires who don't budget, that is the strategy they use. Pay yourself first. Set aside a certain percentage of your income everytime and use the rest.

5. I’m Doing Just Fine Without a

Budget

If you’re achieving your goals and moving forward in getting the life you want and you are not two paychecks or less away from not being able to pay your bills, you could be financially fine. If however, your loan payment is dictating how much you can spend on groceries, you are not financially fine. All you need to do is to swallow your pride and just start budgeting.

6. I Don’t Like Tracking My Spending

Tracking expenses can get tedious in the beginning. The solution is in finding a method that works for you. One of the most convenient methods is the envelope method In which you use cash for most of your categories. For some expenses like groceries, you divide your cash into weeks to ensure you have enough running for the month. Once the amount allocated for each week is up, you know you can’t continue spending more.

7. I Don’t Have Enough Money to Budget (too broke to budget)

When working with limited resources, it can be tough to cut anything down. Tracking your expenses though can surprise you when you think you are just spending on necessities.

But sometimes, the budget acts as a reality check. It reveals that your problem is not your spending habits but your income. It shows you how much you need to bring home each month to make ends meet and still realize your goals. It shows your best course of action.

Learning to plan and budget or create a spending plan will completely change your life. Give it a go and don't beat yourself up for not getting it right the first time. Once you get good at it, you will never have to worry about why you aren't moving forward in life.