Photo by: enea

(Yes, I was trying to think of a super cheesy post title.)

Over the weekend my wife and I discussed making good choices with some teenagers. I posed the question “How does being ‘good’ affect those around you?”

It was a broad question and I wasn’t getting much response. In these situations I sometimes explore the flip side of a subject to see if it’s a little more obvious.

• What if I spent less time helping around the house and replaced that time playing video games?
• What if I picked up a filthy vocabulary? Would that affect my wife and kids?
• What if I started using our credit card to spend money we really didn’t have?
• What if I spent our paychecks on wants, and ran out of money for the mortgage that month?

It’s easy to take for granted the small simple work we each put in every day for those we love because they’re not as obvious sometimes.

They may be every-day things we do, but they’re still good choices, and the people we care about depend on us to keep doing them.

Think of the quiet “good” you do every day and take a moment to appreciate how it affects your friends and family.

Photo from: ffffound

When you build your own budget, it can be as simple or as complicated as you want.

The more categories you add, the more control you’ll take, and the more information you’ll have to make better decisions in the future. Having more categories also makes it easier to find leaks in your paychecks.

It doesn’t take long to find your own comfort zone once you start.

So, how simple can you make a budget?

The ultimate purpose of starting and following a budget is to help you live two main principles: Live Within Your Means, and put your Needs Before Wants.

The simplest budget plans can be as simple as three categories:

Needs, Savings, and Wants.

Savings (even a little) will help you live within your means – and funding your Needs first makes sure you won’t get into trouble. And Wants are important too, just not as important.

Everything else is just fine tuning your unique personal budget to your unique life.

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.