Comments on: 5 Reasons To Dump Your Strict Budget

By: Meaghan

Meaghan — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 14:58:47 +0000

Thanks for sharing, I enjoyed reading this post! Budgeting is very much like dieting and you need to be careful not to set yourself up for failure. I think having an “entertainment” allowance each month is necessary. This is money for splurges (like allowing yourself a cookie or a piece of cake every so often!).

By: laura

laura — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 19:11:38 +0000

Our budget is simple, too. We make every expenditure “the same” every month. Rent is the same, gasoline is about the same, food is about the same, utilities are on balanced billing. For items that aren’t “the same” — like twice a year dental checkups — we added them all up and divided them by 12 months, making our outlay “the same” every month. We have an allowance for spending money. We don’t keep track of anything. Automatic bill pay pays everything on the 1st, and our food and spending money has to last the month or we do without/eat beans and rice. AFter bills and allowance, whatever is left over goes to emergencies first and debt second. Easy. it’s nice not keeping track of anything.

By: WestcoastFP

WestcoastFP — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 06:29:43 +0000

Budgeting seems to place too much of an emphasis on the avoidance of all pleasure in life. Take for example the “David Bach,” school of budgeting and planning; the savings from a $5 latte every day could add up to $XX in 30 years when you retire. How depressing! Who wants to be on the 30 year, no latte plan.

I think real financial advice is to tell someone to drink the latte, enjoy it and make more money. Turn off the TV and start a home based biz in your spare time. Or do a little better at work and get a raise. If you can show someone how to have more disposable income thats real advice.

I’m out like skipping starbucks…

By: Michael - Fat Loss Tips

Michael - Fat Loss Tips — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 01:43:26 +0000

Refreshing take on a not so exciting topic – budgets! Love the comparison to strict diets as well. They’ll work short-term but have little chance of helping you long-term.

Mike

By: MP

MP — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 11:55:36 +0000

For some people more intricate budgets work, for others, breaking up your pay into chunks for different things works. I like my budget, it’s simple (only 5 categories) because I only track my discretionary spending – food, entertainment, clothing & gifts, transportation, everything else. The rest is just accounted for and is based on monthly spending averages over a year. So it takes me 5 minutes a day to enter my expenses (sometimes not even if I didn’t spend that day), and the spreadsheet calculates at the end of the week, and at the end of the month what’s left over – that goes off to a place where I track spending that will occur in the near future(like car maintenance). I don’t get bent out of shape that I’ve gone over budget in a category one week – like the massive overrun I did on food thanksgiving week – because it balances out over the month. If I notice a long term trend of overspending in a category I try to figure out why, and if I can’t then I adjust the budget accordingly. But it all boils down to this: don’t spend what you don’t got…

By: Matt @ Self Improvement Resources

Matt @ Self Improvement Resources — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 20:23:52 +0000

I think that there are a couple of problems with “Budgets”

Most are too strict as you mentioned…

But most people can’t stand budgets because IT MAKES THEM FEEL BROKE. When ever you do a budget it is based on “lack” And when you focus on lack you only get more of it.

I suggest doing a “wealth plan”. Focus on “freeing” up money to build wealth.

By: Bible Money Matters | Money Smart Life

Bible Money Matters | Money Smart Life — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 13:50:45 +0000

[...] 5 Reasons To Dump Your Strict Budget @ Frugal Dad [...]

By: Karla

Karla — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 12:33:03 +0000

I couldn’t agree more! Whenever I try to break down my spending into more categories, I end up further from my targets. At this point, I basically shoot to spend a certain amount per period and end it there. I pay some attention to where the money’s going to keep an eye on problem areas (like dining out – that one always gets me!) but mostly look to the bottom line as a measure of how I’m doing. It allows me to be flexible while also staying on point with my goals.

By: Big Spender

Big Spender — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 20:46:08 +0000

Too many people focus on the spending side of the budget and that’s a recipe for disaster. You can only pare down spending so much before you are miserable. And random expenses always come out of the woodwork.

Focus on on earning more; a second job, paid hobby, whatever. Much more rewarding.

By: erik

erik — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 20:25:20 +0000

Love this article. It’s so hard to articulate this to budget nerds that you can still accomplish financial goals without being psycho about it. My wife and I found the same thing, that when we obsessed over the budget and had like 15 categories, it caused too many fights. It’s not worth it. Don’t throw out the budget, but simplify it, and make decisions based on what’s best for you and your family, not the budget.