BUDGETING IS BALANCING
IT CREATES DISCIPLINE IT DEVELOPS SELF-CONTROL
There are a lot of people who love to operate in control. I am one of them! I ADMIT I LIKE THINGS BETTER THAT I CAN CONTROL ESPECIALLY WHEN THEY DIRECTLY OR INDIRECLY AFFECT ME! Whew! (I got that off my chest). As much I love control, I’ve learned through experience that I cannot control everything and despite my best efforts, hurt is real and so too is disappointment! I’ve also learned that the greatest and most important control is SELF-CONTROL! Some of my need to control those around me was for fear or inability to control myself. And when it is placed into that context, it’s not fair to control those around me when I wrestle with controlling myself. Like most people, I want to protect myself but the person that can harm me the most is always me!
It is me that determines how others treat me, how close they get, how much I trust them, how little I expect from them, what I tolerate, what I will not allow and the list goes on and on. When I changed by view of control things unfolded in my life. There were people I let go, people kept at a distance and people I choose! Controlling me, operating in self-control was the biggest blessing! When I made my own decisions about what affected me and how deeply it affected me, I began to prioritize my life, my life’s goals sooooooooooo much better and the impact was phenomenal!
Budgeting provides the same sense of order. Overspending is a symptom of other underlying issues. Retail therapy although a real (good) thing can become a bad thing quickly, when retail therapy is needed more often than the funds to support such therapy, is acquired. Budgeting helps one control his or her spending habits or measures the therapy for the symptoms. When one controls the symptoms, he or she is left to deal with the root.
Spending money or operating without a budget is just like eating your feelings. You understand emotional eating because the results are clearer to see! A person cannot fit into their clothing or they become extremely overweight. Financial disparity is easier to hide than weight gain. People have become professionals at looking and pretending to be wealthy verses being even financially stable. Spending is an escape. People can usually justify it better as well by through blaming the economy, lack of raises on the job, the increase of needs and the list continues. In actuality, as people we tend to buy our wants and beg for our needs! People with budgeting issues look more affluent than wealthy people and it’s not until they are in the worst scenarios that their financial poverty is exposed! Weddings, funerals, sickness, all tend to bring out the truth as it relates to finances. It’s embarrassing to most people for those closest to us to know just how bad our checking account is maintained or the lack of budgeting and savings.
Budgeting is a much better therapy than retail therapy. It ensures that one is controlling his or her emotions, pockets, and challenging the thought process. Budgeting provides a discipline much like withdrawing from food; that brings about clarity, self-esteem and most importantly creates options! Financial instability is often perpetuated and exploited by reducing options or having one to pay more for the same products than other consumers! Example: Lack of budgeting = bad credit 99.9% of the time, which means that as a consumer EVERYTHING you purchase cost more than consumers with good credit will pay. From life insurance to car insurance, budgeting affects how much one pays for necessities.
Don’t go through 2019, winging it! Budgeting is a strategic plan of distributing your finances that when done effectively and efficiently plans the end from the beginning. It will cause one to look at the short and long-term goals, to plan, say ‘no’ to, or increase one’s price all in an effort to meet the goals of the big picture.
The balance you’re looking for this year…..could be right in YOUR POCKET!
CONTROL THAT!
