Healthy Budgeting: Get the fun stuff & meet your goals without totally losing it.

Developing a budget is a lot like New Year’s resolutions. You start out focused and ready to conquer the world. Even with the best of intentions, we don’t live in a perfect world and motivation wanes. Your January 1 self vows to eat salad, but the random-Tuesday-in-March self ends up doing the grocery shopping, to put it plainly.

If you have been saying to yourself: I really need to get on track with a budget, then I have some advice for you:

Do it, but get real.

By now, I hope you have gathered that this is a no judgement zone. You’re not going to get any outdated and unreasonably strict advice here. Life happens and sometimes we make choices that are less than perfect. When you are figuring out a budget, flexibility is key. So planning for your splurges is better than expecting perfection. A couple of points to think about:

If you miss your mark constantly you won’t stick with it and it will be a financial free-for-all.

Constantly feeling like you are failing ain’t cute for your mental health

Expecting one budget to work forever and in every situation is a recipe for disaster

It’s admirable to set goals for your spending that challenge you to make positive changes in your bank account. After all, there is no growth without pushing yourself a little. But reaching for an ideal sets you up for failure. Here’s what I recommend:

Make your spending and savings goals challenging but realistically achievable

Check in often to make sure you are allowing for a change in circumstances

If you find it’s becoming easier to hit your saving and spending goals, adjust to make more progress

There is no shame in starting out simply. For example, instead of overhauling your whole budget, set a savings goal for a month and see how it goes. What happened that made it easy or difficult to hit that mark? Take that into consideration and make changes to your spending gradually, rather than all at once.

A budget is a TOOL for growth, not a punishment. Need help getting started? Go to the link here: linktr.ee/missoulabookkeeper and set up a FREE consult to get your small business bookkeeping or personal finances in check!