8 Ways a Budget Can Improve Your Life

Do you have a positive or negative view of budgeting?

Most people hate budgets.  They think a budget will restrain them and make their lives unbearable.  Are you one of these people?  This is a very detrimental and unfortunate way to think.

How do I know?  I used to think the same way.  However, I’ve definitely changed my mind.

I’ve learned that a budget can actually improve your life. That’s right, the very thing that people despise and avoid at all costs can help them instead of hurt them.  A budget gives you financial freedom.  It doesn’t take it away.

Things I Learned Living on a Budget

I’ve lived both ways.  For the first twenty years of my adult life, I lived like everyone else without a budget.  I’ve seen both sides so therefore I’m qualified to tell you which is better.

The Ways a Budget Can Improve Your Life

Today, I’ve been using a budget to manage my money for over five years. Obviously, my positive view of budgeting has stuck. To me, this means that it is the real deal.  If it wasn’t, I would have abandoned it because it does take a little time and effort.

Here are eight ways that a budget can improve your life:

1.  A Budget Relieves Stress

Financial stress is one of the leading causes divorce in the world.  I think we’ve all experienced the tension in a household when money is tight.   Your mom and dad fighting about tuition fees, payment for utilities bills and etc. A budget helps relieve this stress because it gives you back control over your finances.  It puts you in the driver’s seat.  Stress comes from anxiety about the future.  When you don’t have a budget, you don’t know if you’ll be able to meet your obligations this month or not.  With a good budget, you know exactly where you stand which reduces stress.

2.  A Budget Helps You Focus

Without a budget, no one knows where the money goes.  It is spent willy-nilly on whatever catches our eye.  A budget is a tool that allows you to prioritize and direct your money to do what you want it to do.  It was absolutely amazing to me how much I was able to accomplish financially once I started budgeting.  It is very easy to underestimate your financial strength when you don’t have a budget.  You simply do not have a tool available to focus your financial energy in any specific direction.

3.  A Budget Motivates You to Simplify

Once you start budgeting, you see exactly where your money is going.  This generally motivates people to simplify their lives because they learn that a lot of their money is being wasted on things that aren’t that important.  For example, when we started budgeting, we sold a bunch of stuff that was regularly costing us money to store, maintain and repair.  Simpler truly is better.  It also leads to less stress.

4.  A Budget Provides Freedom

Our budget gives us more freedom and not less.  It reveals when and where we have extra money to spend on the things we want.  Also, it allows us to make purchases without the guilt that was involved before.  We know we have the money so, we don’t have to feel guilty or try to hide what we are doing.  Our budget has also freed us from living with a bunch of debt.  There are a lot of reasons that living with debt BITES, but freedom tops the list and is the sweetest to savor.

5.  A Budget Makes You More Generous

As you get a handle on your finances and create some margin between what you make and what you spend, you will have more money to give to worthwhile causes of your choice.  This is one of the main reasons that we wanted to live on a budget.  It is nice to be able to help our family when they need it.  It is also rewarding to be able to give to charities and our church more generously.  A budget frees up some resources that you can then direct to greater causes.

6.  A Budget Will Make You a Better Citizen

As we started tightening our budget to reduce expenses so we could payoff debt, we discovered all kinds of ways to save that made us better citizens.  For example, we started shopping for local products instead of buying imported.  This converted us into supporters of our local suppliers.  Also, we lowered our environmental footprint by reducing what we consume and increasing what we recycle.  A budget leads you in all kinds of better paths in life.

7. A Budget Will Discipline You

As we start budgeting and do it frequently, it becomes a habit and a disclipline, which is good for us. You will be more cautious and aware ofyour income and expenses. We will be more wiser. And if you are disciplined, everything will follow, as T Harv Eker said, “How you do anything is how you do everything”. And that is a good thing!

8.  A Budget Is Your Path to Wealth

Finally, a budget can improve your life by leading you to greater personal wealth.  You will stop paying so much interest on borrowed money such ascredit card debts and you will start investing to actually earn interest . In other words, you will put your money to work for you instead of Visa and MasterCard.  It is exciting to watch your savings grow in the bank, in your investments.  The best way I’ve found to make this happen is by living on a budget.

A Budget Really Will Improve Your Life

I will always budget my money from now on.  It is just a better way to live.  It offers less stress, more freedom and allows me to use my financial strength for the benefit of those I care for the most.  In my mind, living any other way is foolish, irresponsible and just plain dumb.