Does your budget have training wheels?

We all have expectations in life. We have expectations from our job, our spouse, our children, our friends and even our pastor, but we rarely expect much from our money.  Shouldn’t we hold Andrew Jackson, Ulysses S. Grant and Benjamin Franklin to some expectations too? I think so!

I believe the main reason; we don’t expect more from our money is that we don't know how to make our money behave.

Making your money behave is a lot like making your children behave.  They need rules and they need to understand the consequences for breaking the rules. When it comes to your money the rules take shape in the form of a well-planned budget.

I know some of you just tuned out when I said the “B” word.  Don’t be afraid of the budget, it won’t hurt you. It will actually help you live a better quality of life and help you reach your financial goals. 

There are a lot of bad budgets out there that simply don’t work.  Don’t think that’s true? Look at the one the government uses, it has not worked in years!  The point I am trying to make is if you have tried a budget in the past and it has not worked, it may not be your fault.  Try a different budget or get in touch with me and we can create one together.  Our budgeting system is so awesome; it can make you a sandwich. Ok, that's not true, but it can help you eliminate about 90% of your financial emergencies.

For those of you that can’t get over the “B” word, you can call it a spending plan. It does not matter what you call it, you just have to get it on paper and try to live by it.  In the beginning, it will be difficult, but as time passes it will get easier. You will have to make some adjustments, but don’t give up; your future depends on it. 

You may not remember the first time you got on a bicycle without training wheels, but I am pretty sure you fell off a few times before you got the hang of it.  So, hop on your budget and practice, no one said you can’t start out using training wheels.  We can help just like mom or dad did when you learned to ride a bike, we’ll be right beside you until you get the hang of it.

If you have questions or would like to sit down for a free consultation, you can reach me at Tom@livefinanciallysmart.com. I will be happy to help.