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.Similar Posts:

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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.Similar Posts:

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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.Similar Posts:

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Photo by: silent-shot

It rained all last week here in the AZ, and the wife and I passed our fair share of accidents on the road.

Coming from a slightly wetter climate than my wife, these sightings often lead to short conversations between us about driving habits between different states.

The thought I always seem to return to is that when roads are wet they play a trick on you.

Most of the time you feel just as in control as you are on a dry road, and most of the time you might be. But it only takes one awkward puddle, or slick spot, or glare (or another bad driver) to take that control away. And on a freeway that’s all it takes.

The best thing, as most people know,  is to simply give yourself a reasonable buffer between you and other cars.

Some months, for my family,  it’s tempting to live right at our means, or even beyond – but it’s just like hugging a car on the freeway. Most of the time we’ll get through the month just fine, but it only takes one instance of “life” to take that control away.

Try to live within your means and give yourself a bit of a buffer. The more you save each month, the safer you’re driving. You may run into heart pounding situations (that may leave you using colorful language), but you just might have enough room to avoid an emergency.Similar Posts:

Photo by: emdot

WithinMeans dot com is getting older every week.

Today I wanted to re-visit three of my favorite posts so far:

1. My favorite post: A Strong Budgeting Foundation

When I was done with this post, I almost felt like everything had come together on its own.

The picture, the idea, the structure – it all seemed to say exactly what I was excited about that week.

2. Most proud of: A New Perspective on Budgeting

Is it possible to be proud of a post about how I need to be more humble? Seems like that would negate the whole concept.

3. Highest hits: Burn!

Not sure if I should be proud of this or not.

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Thanks again for all of your readership, subscriber-ship, comments, and budgeting efforts!Similar Posts:

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Photo by: worldislandinfo

My thoughts have hovered around “planning” lately.

Maybe it’s the new year.

It’s incredible the difference a little planning can make in almost anything.

A budget is simply a way to plan what you’re going to spend your 95% on.

When we don’t plan where our money will go, it might go towards our wants before our needs.

We might even spend more than we earn.

When we fail to plan where our paychecks go, they tend to leak out into less important, or irrelevant things.

Budget’s don’t have to be perfect to make incredible improvements in your life – the simplest budget plans are infinitely better than not having any at all. When you learn how to start a budget plan, and stick to it, you set yourself up for a lot more success down the road.

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PS – A huge round of applause for those of  you who signed up for the January 2010 Challenge. I have been quite inspired by how many have signed up.

I hope you’ll email me when the month is over to tell me how you did!

And it’s not too late to start your own first month of budgeting. Just sign up for the emails in the sidebar to the right. It’s wicked easy.Similar Posts:

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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.Similar Posts:

My Awesome Nephew

A little early for a Christmas picture, isn’t it?

Well, that’s actually the point today.

Last week I wrote about Budgeting for Expected Costs, and my little sister (who, on a side note, is a thrift store ninja master) brought up that the holidays are a perfect example.

Most of us are planning on spending at least some money for the holidays. (Wordy debates of how right or wrong this is can be found all over the internet if you want to join one.)

Now is a great opportunity to start building funds in your budget for trips back home, gifts, parties, home-made-gift materials, ugly sweaters, Pink Nightmares – anything you and your family might do to celebrate in your own way.

You can make categories – as general as one big “Christmas” category, or as many specific categories as you might want – and fund them as money comes in, or move funds in them from less important categories for a while. The more funded they are, the less inclined you might be to go beyond your means this year – and the less guilty you’ll feel when you find the perfect gift.

How do you use your budget when the holidays start?Similar Posts:

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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.Similar Posts:

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Photo by: Joop Dorresteijn

Building a Strong Budgeting Foundation

Still Standing

Over the weekend my wife and I had a great conversation with some youth about foundations and roots. We discussed the forces that might be working against a building, or a tree, that might bring them down – and why they would need a foundation (or roots) to withstand those forces.

Our conclusion was that good foundations and good roots need two qualities:

They need to be deep and they need to be strong.

We have many foundations in our lives and our 95% is a big one. It not only “keeps us up” from month to month, but also helps us weather storms and constant change.

The two principles of a good foundation seem to correspond to the two main budgeting principles I try to evangelize here on WithinMeans:

Living Within Your Means Will Make Your 95% Deep

As you use a budget to actively spend less than you earn, your wealth and safety will increase from month to month, a little at a time. Your financial foundation will get deeper and deeper, and you’ll find yourself weathering unexpected costs better.

Budgeting Needs Before Wants Keeps Your 95% Strong

Spending money on what you want, then hoping you have enough for your needs, is a weak foundation at best. If your needs are budgeted first every month you may see some erosion on your wants, but the important things will always have what they need to keep you standing.

How else can you deepen and strengthen  your 95%?Similar Posts: