“It’s amazing how fast you can go through $7,000 with beer, pizza and The Gap.”—Ben Affleck
What is your reaction to the word “budget”? A sinking, depressed, deprived feeling? You are not alone. Many people audibly groan at the mention of the word. For the vast majority, it connotes scarcity, lack, and limitation—none of which are very pleasurable concepts. “Budgeting” in common usage usually means cutting the fun, frivolity, entertainment, and spontaneity out of your life and creating a bare-bones, austere, nothing-but-the-basics spending plan—something you do when you’re stressed about not having enough money.
That is not my idea of budgeting. I have reframed it above: It means designing a spending plan to achieve your number one priorities and get all those things you really want. A budget is telling your money where to go instead of wondering where it went! This can and should be a very enjoyable process and not the bitter, restrictive pill you fear.
It is important to know that a budget is not written in stone. It is a flexible, adjustable plan that reflects how you give valuable products or services to others (income) and how you choose to support others by buying their products or services (expenses). All of these are decisions you make, therefore you have the power to change them. We often feel so trapped by our previous decisions that we think that we’re stuck, but a closer examination will reveal that we can change everything if we are willing.
The power of budgeting is that we decide before each month how we will spend our income, then as the month goes on, we write down our actual income and expenses. When we tally up the score at the end of the month, we can see whether or not we want to change our decisions for next month. Design a plan that works for you and then work your plan!
Today’s Affirmation: “I happily spend the money I make in all the wisest ways!”
Reprinted from The Wealthy Spirit (Sourcebooks, 2002) by Chellie Campbell.
All rights reserved.
Baby-U-Deserve-Getting-Every-Thing (Budget) - To learn more about this author, visit Chellie Campbell's Website.
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Chellie Campbell
(Visit Chellie's Website)
Chellie Campbell is the creator of the
popular Financial Stress Reduction®
Workshops, and the author of The Wealthy
Spirit and Zero to Zillionaire, both
published by Sourcebooks, Inc. She is one
of Marci Shimoff's “Happy 100” in her
current NYT bestseller Happy for No Reason
and contributed stories to Jack Canfield’s
recent books You’ve Got to Read This Book!
and Life Lessons from Chicken Soup for the
Soul. She is prominently quoted as a
financial expert in The Los Angeles Times,
Pink, Good Housekeeping, Lifetime,
Essence, Woman’s World and more than 35
popular books. For more information, visit
her web site www.Chellie.com or email her at Chellie@
Chellie.com
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