Not only are there plenty of sites that do that (and it’s not that those things aren’t very important), but I’d rather have WithinMeans be about small achievable steps that make a difference in your daily and monthly life, right away (using a simple, self-made, family budget).

So forgive me from breaking that rule today as this chart focuses quite a bit on the negative – also, I found some of the wording needlessly snarky.

Some of these issues are symptoms of  putting wants before needs, a lack of a prioritizing budget, and not living within means. All things anyone can try to start doing today.

I’ve shared an infograph from Visual Economics before and found it quite interesting; I hope you find this one enlightening as well.

Click the picture to go to the original source for a bigger look:

Source: Visual Economics

• An Interesting Look At Where Many Paychecks End Up
• 4 Budgeting Tips For Newlyweds (of all ages)

I hope you’ll accept the following 7 lbs and 19 inches as a partially acceptable excuse.

Similar Posts:

• Learn why Jonathan started Withinmeans

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.Similar Posts:

• Real newlywed’s share their budgeting story
• 4 Budgeting Tips For Newlyweds (of all ages)

Well, I’m back from vacation.

Trips always do interesting things with my budget. I seem to be completely incapable of anticipating how much they’ll end up costing in the end.

Sometimes I over-budget and then feel great about spending less than I thought; often I spend more than I’d hoped.

Never am I right on.

Fortunately, budgeting isn’t about being perfect, it’s about being persistent.

Like lots of other things, budgeting gets better (and easier) the more you do it. But that doesn’t mean you’re immune from “Wacky Months.”

And when you have a Wacky Month, with trips or unexpected costs (or just flat out bad planning), you don’t need to stress too much because next month you’ll start a new budget and try again.

You’ll do better next month, and even better the month after that.Similar Posts:

• Your savings are important, but so is the rest of your money.
• Budgeting your paycheck gets easier every month

Photo by: theenglishguy

Sometimes the hardest part of active budgeting is simply remembering to update your budget.

Simple, quick, easy things like keeping your budget current are either easy to forget, or constantly shuffled into the back of our minds.

One solution is to take advantage of the ten thousand passwords you have to keep track of these days:

The next time you’re prompted to update one of your passwords, change it into something that will remind you to stay on top of your budget.

That way, everytime you log in, you’ll have to type out your own reminder.

If you try it, let me know how it works out for you!Similar Posts:

• Keep your budget in front of you

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:

• Real newlywed’s share their budgeting story

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:

• How To Turn Emergencies Into Inconveniences

Photo by: iwona kellie

Is there something you want?

Are your needs being met first?

How much does it cost?

How long would you be willing to save up for it?

Could you pick a specific date as a goal?

How much would you have to set aside every month to have that much by then?

Can you afford that amount? (If not, could you extend your goal date?)

Where would that money come from?

Is there something you value less than your goal that you’re currently spending money on?

It could come from that.

Make it a category on your budget and set that money aside every month.

Prioritize it on your budget between something you value less, and something you value more.

(Crazy idea, I know.)

Stick with it, and it will be yours.

No guilt, no debt.Similar Posts:

• Your budget is a goal setting tool

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:

• Make purchasing decisions easier by following a budget

Photo by: Gilles Gonthier

If I learned anything from elementary school, it’s that groundhogs have the cosmic ability to predict how long winter will last depending on their shadow.

This supernatural event only happens on the 2nd of February every year. If the groundhog sees his shadow he goes back down his hole to hide from six more weeks of winter. The universe will have spoken.

We have no ability to change whether winter will last another six weeks or not – that is up to the cosmic groundhog – but you do have the ability to choose to follow a budget for the next six weeks. Try signing up for One Month of Budgeting for some extra help:

If you’re reading this in a reader, you can click through here to see the form.

(Ok, the One Month of Budgeting emails only last for five weeks, but you still get six emails.)

—

PS – I was going to include a bunch of mildly obscure references to the movie Groundhog Day, to drive my wife nuts, but I deleted them.

Oh what the heck:

Watch that first step… it’s a doo-hoo-sie! Am I right, or am I right? Right? Right?Similar Posts:

• Keep your budget in front of you
• Budgeting your paycheck gets easier every month