The Importance of Budgeting

Today I want to explore with you why budgeting is so important. It's important to not only have a budget, but to stick to it and live within the actual means of your budget. When you fail to do so, your finances, and ultimately, you, suffer the consequences of unwise money management. Budgeting not only creates a clear picture of your financial boundaries (or limitations), but it provides a good roadmap of the days, weeks, months and even years ahead of your financial state. When you know how much money you have to work with, you're able to prioritize what's important and what's not. You know - the important concept of wants vs. needs! That is, if you're committed to living within the budget, of course. When you make the wise decision to do so, it eliminates unnecessary financial stress and creates a sense of security in regards to your financial obligations. Budgeting and living within (and beneath) my needs made it possible to help get my son through undergraduate school with no financial debt. That's something I never imagined was possible, but it was thanks to a commitment to creating a monthly budget, setting limitations on my spending and creating a very clear line of what I needed versus what I wanted. Did that mean making sacrifices sometimes? Well, of course it did. But, I can truly say, every single sacrifice was worth the end result of removing the burden of a huge undergraduate student loan debt - or any at all. So, I encourage you to sit down and write down what money you have, get a real sense of what are priorities (needs) versus pleasures (wants) and prepare yourself for financial success. It's very true. It's not about how much money you have, it's about what you do with it!