I was twelve when I got my first job, washing tables for the ice cream shop my older sister worked at. They gave me two dollars an hour, which was not very much for a boy with an unhealthy addiction to Nintendo games like me.

Nonetheless, if I wanted a new game I needed to have about $50 – and if I saved $5 every shift I worked, I could buy the game in about ten days. Plus I would still have some money in the mean time to spend on X-Men trading cards with my friends. So I did it, and it worked.

Since then I’ve budgeted my money and set goals. First on notepaper, then in tables I’d print up, and eventually with a spreadsheet. Without really trying to, I found myself teaching roommates, friends, and eventually giving small presentations on individual and family budgeting.

About WithinMeans:

It doesn’t take much effort to find many articles that talk about starting a budget. Almost without fail they tend to look something like this:

1. Write down how much you make.

2. Write down how much you spend.

3. Start a budget.

4. Stick with it.

Well, those are all great things, but 3 and 4 are really important and need some fleshing out.

That’s where I can help. I’m here to show you how to start a budget, and how to stick with it.

If we can get a high school student to start a budgeting habit before she goes to college, think of the consumer debt she’ll avoid. If we can get a young father to budget with his family, he’ll sleep better knowing bills are covered. The more people are following a budget, and living within their means, the less debt we’re all in. And that means a lot to me.

The budget is simply the path that allows us to enjoy these benefits.

About The Blog:

There are zillions of great personal finance blogs out there that offer great advice. This one will focus on budgeting, and inspiring.

It takes a little inspiration every once in a while to stay on a good path, especially when there are so many excuses not to. Come back often to find extra motivation or insights. Leave comments and insights of your own. You never know when your insight, or shared experience,  will inspire someone else to take a positive step.

My invitation to you is to subscribe to the blog, endure my tendency for run-on sentences, join the conversation, share what you learn with friends and family, use some of the tools, and help me use WithinMeans to make a difference.