Budgeting Side Effects

Photo by: ikkoskinen

Let’s say you decided to take action and start a budget today. You really want a new garage door and want to budget for it so you can buy one this year.

As you keep your budget updated week after week, you start to notice a leak in your money. You’re spending more on eating out than you want to. You feel like you’d rather spend less and eat in more often, so you shrink your “eating out” category and put that money towards your goal. Now you’re even closer to the garage door.

After a few months you reach your goal and your garage looks great. Congrats!

While getting the garage door was the ultimate goal, you may have experienced some other “side effects” from this experience.

By budgeting less for eating out, you might eat less fast food. You might be eating better as you make your own meals. You may have even learned how to make a new meal you love.

Using a budget can have more positive (sometimes unintended) side effects in your life than just saving money or achieving goals.

My wife and I have been budgeting for years, and we still find these little side effects all the time.

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