Are you tired of watching your bank account balance melt faster than ice cream on a hot summer day? If so it’s time to take a hard look at those money habits. Using a budget is beneficial because it highlights exactly where your money is going and how you can begin to save, invest, and live a debt-free, stress-free money life. We’ve listed below 3 reasons using a budget is beneficial.
3 Reasons Using a Budget is Beneficial
1. It keeps you from wasting money.
A place for every dollar and every dollar in its place.
Using a zero-based budget is beneficial because it maximizes the money you earn through planning. A zero-based budget accounts for all income and assigns it to a specific place. Budgeting benefits you because all of your obligations are on paper (or screen) and accounted for. This allows you to easily recognize that you will have trouble reaching your savings goals if you continue to spend too much on restaurants. A budget forces you see the actual numbers which discourages you, for instance, from making emotional spending decisions.
Budgeting is beneficial because it creates better spending decisions
Using a budget is beneficial because it is rooted in how you prioritize your money. A zero-based budget puts all the cards on the table and reveals your hand. You can’t BS yourself anymore. There is nowhere to hide. For instance, if you are following a zero-based budget faithfully you will soon see if you are overspending on groceries or another category. Once you have that knowledge you only have a couple of choices: Keep overspending or adjust your habits to meet your goals. A zero-based budget is beneficial because it shines a light on your spending decisions and creates opportunities for you to make spending decisions that align with your goals.
2. Budgeting is the only pathway to long-term success with money.
Budgeting is not just a plan for your money, it’s a plan for your life!
People who are successful with money always play the long game. Budgets are not just a plan for the month, they are a plan for your life. Once you’ve become a regular budgeter you’ll begin to see just how much control you have over your money and your future. You will begin to see your budget as means of accomplishing your dreams. Once the light comes on, you’ll be excited to begin planning for the life you’ve always wanted.
Budgeting brings clarity out of confusion
A zero-based budget is beneficial because it removes the unknowns and replaces them with knowns. Most people experience anxiety around money because they don’t know where their money is going or if they’ll have enough when they need it. What if I told you that you could know with almost certainty that when your car breaks down, you’ll have enough money to pay for the repairs in cash? Or that if your home’s roof springs a leak, you can handle the new roof without using credit? A well-planned and executed zero-based budget allows you to know where your money is, where it is going, and how much you need to save.
A zero-based budget is beneficial because it brings certainty out of the unknown. It brings clarity out of confusion.
3. Using a budget is beneficial because it is the best way to crush debt.
When you start budgeting you’ll soon find extra money you can apply to your debts.
Start budgeting and you’ll soon feel like you got a raise! Most people are quickly surprised at how much of their money is spent at restaurants or coffee shops. When a new “budgeter” starts acknowledging exactly where their money is going they have the information they need to redirect that money to debts or other priorities. The number one tool you need to pay off your debt is a budget.
Budgeting helps you spend less with your emotions and more with a plan.
Never make emotional decisions with your money! Read that again. Never make emotional decisions with your money. Always plan and spend your money within the context of your zero-based budget. One of the fastest ways to lose with money is to spend with your emotions. It is at least monthly that my wife and I have to repel emotional pulls on our money. If there is something we want to buy, trip we want to take, or a cause we want to support, it will have to wait until next month’s budget where it can be evaluated and fit into the comprehensive plan for our money.
Why Using a Budget is Beneficial.
Budgeting is beneficial because it keeps you from wasting your money. It helps you aim your money at the right target and discourages emotional expenditures. Budgeting is a plan for your life, not just your money. When you learn to budget your money you learn to control your future. You’ll discover more opportunities than you thought you had and begin to see possibilities that previously felt like only dreams.
