Budget and freedom are two words most would think are antonyms or words that should not be in the same sentence. However, I have found that budgeting in your personal finances gives you a freedom to spend without guilt or fear of consequence and gives you a level of control over your finances that is hard to find otherwise.
My wife and I have been through Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University, which is a 9-week (I think it might be shorter now) class that meets once a week and is designed to help you with your personal finances. The core of the class is a zero-based budget, where the goal is to tell your money what it will do for you each month, instead of looking back and wondering where it all went. “Every dollar, on paper, on purpose, before the month begins”. The class also covers important personal finance topics, such as retirement, investing, insurance coverage, etc.
I consider myself fairly competent when it comes to finances – I have a college education where I received a business degree with an emphasis in accounting and have taken many finance classes. I found the class and principles refreshing – they go back to the basics and are designed to get you debt free, protect your assets, and build your personal wealth, with the goal also to be a blessing to others through generosity.
The class goes through a series of “baby steps” to help you walk through getting your personal finances in order. The steps are clearly explained and are attainable goals that you can easily measure your progress against. As a bonus, the class helps get spouses on the same page as well, giving ownership of the process to both spouses, which can help improve communication and teamwork in a relationship.
For me personally, I like to have fun and spend money. The budgeting process allows me to figure out how much fun I can afford, and then plan each month’s fun activities knowing they are already paid for. There have been a number of times where we were under budget on the entertainment category, and have been “forced” J to go out and have some more fun – how can you argue with that! I also have many significant personal financial goals that I hope to achieve, and can say that these principles have helped give me targets and ways to measure my progress against my larger financial goals.
Some people may argue with me that Dave Ramsey’s principles are too basic/unsophisticated, and I honestly can’t say that I have followed all of his recommendations (for example, I am more aggressive in my investing though I fully understand the risks, can afford to lose the money, am ahead of schedule for retirement/other goals, etc) but it is hard to argue with the lives and family trees he has helped change with these basic principles, which he refers to as “God’s and grandma’s ways of handling money”.
Classes are available in many places (often at local churches), cost around $125 for materials and are led by people who have gone through the class before. If you are interested, Dave Ramsey’s website can help find a class near you.
Even if you do not look into the class, adopting a zero based budget each month can help you get traction on your personal finances, help you reach your personal financial goals, and give you the freedom to spend without guilt – 2018 is a great year to give it a try!
Let me know if you have taken Financial Peace University (or something similar) or are on a zero based budget already and how the results have been for you… I would love to hear your stories!
Brian
(Image courtesy of pixelbay.com)
Great subject! My first thought as I started reading this is that Dave Ramsey would so completely disapprove of your crypto investments. :)
I love listening to the Dave Ramsey radio show here in LA on AM1150 when I'm in the car. I haven't taken his class and don't need it, but I enjoy listening because (terrible I know) I love hearing about other people's financial situations. It's such a taboo subject that we're always raised and told is not an appropriate conversation to have with people. I think that's why so many people have problems with their money because nobody teaches them and they think it's inappropriate to ask someone about it.
I think Dave Ramsey is a great tool for people who really want to reign in their spending and eliminate debt in their lives. Some of the stories people tell are very inspiring. But where I diverge from Dave are things like mortgages. As long as it's not an overwhelming cost, I don't think carrying a mortgage is terrible. I also use a credit card for everything but pay the balance every month, mostly because I love getting the airline miles. Credit is a powerful tool and plenty misuse it, but I just can't see getting out of having a credit score altogether which he almost encourages with his methods.
But where Dave shines is making your money work for you. Putting money into mutual funds/stocks still has proven to be more successful than anything else over a long period of time. I'm still a believer in it. But like you, I think there's value in crypto and think it's worth putting a small percentage of investment in it.
But to your overall point, having a budget is a great thing. When you get lazy and stop paying attention, little expenses you're ignoring start adding up and can be very costly over time. That's money that could be used somewhere else.
Great topic for people to think about!
Great points and thoughts. You are exactly right that Dave would not approve of the crypto investments! I enjoy listening to the radio show too and like hearing others financial situations and his proposed solutions. Thanks for posting.
ya te vote ,buen post sigueme para poder seguir creciendo juntos en esta familia de steemit.
ya te vote ,buen post sigueme para poder seguir creciendo juntos en esta familia de steemit.
A friend of mine was trying to get me to go to David Ramsey's financial classes and I originally wasn't in a rush... until now!
I’m currently attending university for an accounting major. I love finances and looking at money and the works of companies. I feel like you cant go wrong with being an accountant because you learn when a company is worth investing and you understand the numbers behind everything.
I also create budgets and enjoy managing my money so i always have money in the bank lol. Ive created a savings account that i never touch except to put money in, and i make sure to pay bills before using money for anything else. HOWEVER, Christmas took a big chunk of money. And now i have books to buy for university, i did not budget well for Christmas and this month. But I’m getting back on track with receiving paychecks since i started up work again after the break.
It’s going to be tight for a little while, but i made a budget to get back on track.
Good plan and best of luck as you finish out your university studies!
Thanks. I appreciate it
Been thinking about taking this class, but so far haven't. I am in no debt and live under my means. Sold my house over the summer and am waiting until the market crashes to buy another one. Am invested, retirement ect. Think it would be helpful? Seems to be geared to people with debt....
I think it would still be helpful, but as you mentioned, it is greared to fix broken finances and debt. It is great that you have no debt and people tend to learn from each other in the class so I think you could help others in the class. Congrats to you my friend!
I once read a book about Warren Buffet, in which was described that he had difficulties spending anything, because he did not see the current value but what the amount was likely to be worth in 20 years. I tend to think in the same direction with regard to steem.
Wowww Dearie! I love the way you connected Budgeting and Freedom together;-
Absolutely Dear! Absolutely. I totally concur with the last few words of the sentences;-
This statement cracks me up Brian;-
Thanks dearie for this wonderful post! Very informative. Keep steeming.
excellent, if the subject is very important, in what you do it would be good to share it and so we also learn ... although making a budget plan in my country venezuela is somewhat difficult, since the system is out of control and that affects a lot , but still there are no impossible, and I want to know those budget techniques and try to apply them, thanks for sharing
I am not really into taking up any financial class or any financial advises but I would be grateful if you could give one. To me, spending money is not a real problem as long as you spend it in your own satisfaction and desires. I've just discovered steemit 4 months ago and I can say I've been so fruitful in the platform. I also invested in cryptocurrency market and made a lot of fortune (in just a short period of time). From that day, I've learned to save money and I learned to only buy things that I needed. Well sometimes I spend money for fun but what I really learned is the importance of having your own financial system. Now I've become a business minded and I never really thought to become one when I was a kid. I would be grateful if we could become friends and if you could give me some advices with my journey in business and in steemit.
Thanks,
Chris
First of all, this is really hard to understand for such people... but it's so true. I'm now 19 years old and thought the same thing like you told in this post. We are here in steemit to do the same, we want to share our babysteps in investing and want to share our knowledge about this things. We hope that we may can help other people out of the rat race with our blog. And for all it will be a big project to follow the way out of the rat race.
I have not seen any class about it
But we usually ask where the money went and many times we think we waste it
It's so much easier in the first world countries with the budget I would say.
I remember one meme and it goes like this:
"I wonder if Bear Grylls could survive in Balkans with a pay of 300 euros, and the price of rent only is 200 euros".
Thank God, I'm not in a situation like that, but it still isn't easy, as I'm not left with that much money after I pay something.
I agree. I also want to enroll at some sort of Financial Peace University. I hope I could have the opportunities
Good post bro
Amazing post, just followed and resteemed, Follow me back and upvote my posts as well. Hope we can be good friends.
Wow great post dear good job carry im always here for your good supporter thanks a lot for sharing lovely post @brian.rrr
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so nice post.. @biplab818
Good work,kip it up.
An important topic
Thank you
Great subject!
great post
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Nice post my friend!!!
great post friend