Can Budgeting Come with Baggage?

Money Management
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Similar to how we enter into new relationships with some of our own baggage, we tend to do the same with our relationship with money.

One area that often carries the most is budgeting.

If I can draw parallels with emotional baggage, our mindset about budgeting may simply be caused by our unwillingness to address unresolved issues and fears.

Is the stress of creating a budget caused by the fear of having to face the amount of debt you owe? What if it’s too overwhelming?
Are you delaying your budget because you’re worried that you’ve started too late? What if you’ve missed the deadline to save for a comfortable retirement?
Do you find budgeting scary because you’re worried you might fail and never reach the goals that you’ve set?
Are you concerned that budgeting will be so restrictive that you’ll end up a hermit – stuck inside all day while your friends are sipping champagne on the beachfront?
Are you worried that dedicating time to budgeting is going to add more to your already-full plate? How can you possibly fit it all in?
Is budgeting something your partner doesn’t necessarily prioritize? How will this affect your relationship?

You’re not alone. Many people, including myself, have shared some or all of these fears at some point. But fear is an emotion often caused by a perceived threat – not necessarily a real one.

Before I moved to the United States to start my PhD, a friend gave me some incredible advice to help calm my nerves. Not surprisingly, it’s stuck with me since. She said: “Anticipation is often far worse than the reality”.

Isn’t this so true for our finances? We are so hesitant to start budgeting because we’ve already given our fear enough traction to stop us from even trying.

Read the rest of the article here: Letting Go of Your Budgeting Baggage

To help you get started on your journey to better budgeting, you can also receive the Financial Starter Pack FREE - including an Excel budget template, yearly savings/debt scoresheets (printable) and monthly goal-setting worksheets (printable).

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You hit the nail on the coffin here when it comes to budgeting. All of those have been things that have held me back from really creating and sticking to a budget.

I am still working on it actually, but at the beginning of this year I made it a point that I would do what it takes to get my finances in order and that includes budgeting.

On the topic of fear, I just read the book Who Moved My Cheese? and it talks about the fact that a lot of times what we fear and image the outcome of something will be is usually not as big as it turns out to be in reality.

A healthy fear can be a good motivator, but fear can also control us if we are not careful.

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Exactly, Ron! I’m really glad to hear that you’re taking steps in the right direction. I look forward to reading more of your posts and seeing how your financial journey goes. We can all learn something from each other! Feel free to reach out at any time if you need any advice

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My biggest setback with budgeting is consistency. I feel I would start it but not continue. I am halfway there on budgeting. I write down my expenses bi-weekly but do not account for “small” purchases. This would be my goal as well as an envelope system.