Photo by: schmilblick

Months ago the wife and I decided to cancel our TV.

This was a big decision for us, and I actually fought against it for a while. I was a bit of an addict.

What was interesting was that we knew that TV was a Want, but it was actually part of our Needs on our budget.

Now, TV is obviously not a need (for most people), but the bill for the TV was attached to the Internet (which is very much a need for us) and the telephone. It was just easier to lump the same bill into the same category – so it hid there for a long time.

But it wasn’t accurate, so we made it a Want.

With a new and more correct perspective, it was easier to realize we wanted our 95% going to more important and more satisfying things.

(Also, pretty much anything we want to watch is available on the internet these days.)

I’m not saying everyone should cancel their TV, but maybe you can re-look at your “Needs” and see if any “Wants” are hiding in there.

Photo by: notsogoodphotography

Contrary to popular belief, I’m not very passionate about budgets.

Budgets are kinda boring.

Ok, they’re very boring.

I am, however, passionate about the benefits of budgeting.

• I love showing people how to be in control of one of the most influential factors of their lives.
• I like sharing how to stop wasting money on things you don’t value.
• It’s impressive to me when somebody knows their 95% enough to say ‘no’ to something they can’t afford.
• I get excited about someone buying something they really want, and knowing they can afford it without credit.
• I love the idea of parents falling asleep knowing their family’s needs are met this month.
• It’s exciting to think that people are using their budget to put a little away every month.

And it’s fun to write, and post, and hope it makes a difference.

My Little Family

I’ve written before about how a budget can be a a top-down view of your 95%. With it, you can see what you can afford, what you can’t, and what you can shuffle around if you need to. It’s a lot better than guessing in the middle of a “should I buy it?” moment.

But budgeting also gives you a great map of what you value. After a few months of fine-tuning your budget, you’ll start to see a pretty accurate picture of what you really want. It’s a neat little side-effect of budgeting.

Knowing what you value ,and budgeting for it, can be a huge source of contentment in life. Knowing that you’re putting your hard earned dollars towards what matters most is a comforting feeling.

The opposite – not knowing what you really value – can lead to a lot of leaks in your paychecks and a lot of perpetual and unhappy spending.

Some things we value greatly.

You’ll find yourself budgeting these things first,  making sure they’re covered before anything else.

They’ll align with what’s most important to you in your life. When I had my son, a lot of things I used to value suddenly meant much less (or nothing at all) to me.

We need these things the most, they bring us the most peace, the most fun, or the most satisfaction. They help us reach our goals in life.

Some things we value less.

You’ll find yourself budgeting these things with “what’s left.”  Our paychecks can tend to leak into this less-satisfying realm quite a bit if we’re not watching our budgets. Stay diligent and you’ll see these leaks getting plugged up over time.

Others we do not value at all.

You’ll start to find that you haven’t even included these things in your budgets for a while – a pretty good indicator you don’t really want your money going towards them.

Take some time to review your budget (or start one) and see if you can’t find what you really want your money going towards. Do some adjusting if you need to – it will be worth it.