A Plan And Rock Solid Determination

What does it take to build a solid financial future?  Money, a good plan, and rock solid determination.

Consider a recent article written by Jen from Beyond Mom.  I love the article’s title: The Budget Might Kill Me This Month.  Isn’t that awesome?  Trust me, I’ve felt that exact same sentiment several times.  I encourage you to read Jen’s article, and I think you’ll be impressed, just as I was, by Jen’s closing words –

It’s not super-fun, and it’s certainly not glamorous, but you know what…it will be worth it.

I think that’s how most of us feel about living on a budget.  It is so cool to see someone make a choice – the right choice – and focus on the future.  By the way, Beyond Mom is a member of the No Credit Needed Network and you can click here to view her most recent NCN Network Chart – beyondmom.

For our family of five, it’s extremely important that we live on a budget.  In fact, just the thought of living without one makes me nervous.  I need the structure that a good budget – a good plan – provides.  Personally, we use software developed by You Need A Budget to manage our household finances, and we really like it.  I’ve been using YNAB for several years, and I’m proud to have them as a site sponsor.

As you develop your budget, remember one thing.  Your budget will be useless if you are not determined to use it.  I can remember, years ago, before I got serious about getting out of debt, creating an elaborate budget.  I broke down categories into sub-categories, and sub-categories into sub-sub-categories.  I created short-term, mid-term, and long-term goals.  I averaged my payments, created scenarios for paying of my debts, printed out my budget, and placed in a brand new three-ring binder.  And there is sat.  The budget – my plan for changing my future – just sat there.  I spent hours creating it, and then I did nothing with it.  It was years later, when I finally decided to actually do something about my future, that my budget started to matter.  I had to find the drive, the purpose, the determination to put the numbers on the page into real life action.  Then, and only then, did I begin to turn my financial life around.