Comments on: Budget for Yourself, Not for Someone Else

By: Barry Choi

Barry Choi — Wed, 07 Oct 2015 05:45:15 +0000

In reply to seattlegirluw. Seattlegirluw, Yes it can be extremely frustrating to budget when you're comparing yourself to others.Every situation is different so it's important to focus just on your own finances.

By: seattlegirluw

seattlegirluw — Tue, 06 Oct 2015 18:25:31 +0000

Yep, I used to drive myself crazy trying to fit the budget to what I thought it “should” be. But I was comparing us to healthy people, people who liked to cook, etc. When I inevitably failed, I’d spend valuable energy beating myself up about it. Once I planned our finances around our circumstances and abilities, things got a lot easier. We’re still careful about spending, but I don’t have to deal with shame spirals and other unnecessary stress.

By: Barry Choi

Barry Choi — Mon, 05 Oct 2015 14:02:43 +0000

In reply to Isaac.

Isacc,

You’re right it’s very personal and no two budgets are alike. I’m disciplined enough to know how much I need to save so I don’t worry too much about spending what’s left. Some people need to budget for every dollar just to keep them honest.

As long as you have a budget in place that works for you, I don’t think anyone can criticize your plan too much.

By: Isaac

Isaac — Mon, 05 Oct 2015 13:53:25 +0000

I think this is great advice Barry. Budgets are very personal and I also believe that there is no one right way to budget your finances. What I sense and hear from a lot of people is that budgeting is too restrictive. I personally take a unique approach to budgeting that quite frankly, doesn’t even feel like I’m following a budget.

It starts with a plan. In my case, I’ve identified aspects of my financial life that need to be addressed. For example, I get an understanding of how much I need to contribute to my mortgage payments every month, how much to individual RRSPs, RESPs for our kids, life, home & car insurance, etc. We commit to these fixed monthly expenses which get withdrawn from our bank account on an automatic basis. If we’ve fully committed to our medium and long-term goals in this way, I accept that the rest of the money that is earned in the household is spent. Taking this approach, neither my wife or I feel that we are complete prisoners to our medium and long-term goals. We are afforded the ability to spend the rest of our household earned income in a manner which meets our needs and wants.

I think as always, without a plan, or call it a budget, you haven’t established where you’re going and what you’re doing. At a minimum, it is important to have some idea how you plan on spending your money.