Do You Budget?

Do You Budget?

We welcome Melanie Thompson back for her second Saturday post! We had a lot of fun last time when she talked about reading! She’s got another interesting topic for us! Take it away Melanie!

I have always been a saver, the real budgeting only started after I got married and kicked into high gear when we got pregnant.  To me having a budget is comforting and essential. To be unaware of where my money is going makes me anxious!

There are three main reasons I find comfort in budgeting:

1.      It gives me a plan.

2.      It helps set boundaries.

3.      It helps me prioritize.

There are plenty of other reasons to budget, but these are the ones that get me coming back to it daily and monthly. Knowing the resources I have available compared to what I want to accomplish sets my expectations. It means learning to DIY and repurpose items we have because we can’t afford new sometimes. I love the fun of working with what we have. Sometimes I don’t stick to the budget and this can be difficult, I have to try to avoid being too hard on myself while at the same time vowing to do better next month.

So often we think of budgeting purely in terms of money, but we also budget other things, like resources and most valuably our time. Budgeting my time is the one I most often forget. Taking the time to ask myself things like “How much “Melanie-time” do I need this week? How much time can I afford to spend on work while devoting enough time to my husband? What are my priorities when it comes to my time and am I working to fulfill them?” While I spend so much time working out how each dollar will be spent, I focus far less on budgeting my time and making sure I’m doing it wisely.

I wonder what Gail Vaz-Oxlade  would say to me if she audited my time? Gail is the budgeting queen from the show Til Debt Do Us Part. She spends the start of each show sharing where the money of the couple featured is going. Would she shock me with the amount wasted? Would she point out the large percentage gap in the time spent on my wants versus needs?

When it comes to budgeting how do you fare? Do you have any great budgeting tips? Is budgeting important to you?

photo credit: Tax Credits

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