Spend Time with Your Money; Create a Budget

Learning to be good stewards over what God has given us can be a challenge. In the wink of an eye, 2016 will be gone. How can we go out with a bang concerning our money? Holidays such as Labor Day, Thanksgiving and Christmas all take place in the next few months, and most of us will be spending money on gifts and celebration. Have you thought about putting a budget in place for these holidays? If we don’t budget, these expenditures can hurt us for years to come.

Ever notice how easy it can be to spend money or put items you get on sale on your credit card? Yet, it’s when we can’t explain where our money has gone that is the most difficult to process. Budgeting can be frightening; it’s a subject like death that people would rather put off until later. Yet, department stores, television commercials and pre-holiday sales remind us that if we don’t set a budget, we will find ourselves regretting a purchase rather than enjoying it.

Recently, I attended a Budgeting with a Purpose workshop sponsored by Aim to Achieve, a nonprofit organization that shared the concept that “Spending time with our money is another way of thinking about budgeting.”

They compared spending quality time with your money to getting to know your spouse. Unless you make the effort and time to get to know your significant other, your relationship won’t be as strong and you will find yourself wondering why it’s not growing.

When I first attended the workshop, I did little budgeting because I did not really understand the importance of budgeting. Since I finished the course, my wife and I have embraced the idea, and it has shown us how to balance our expenses with our income. Below are reasons why people dislike budgeting and the importance of budgeting:

 

Common reasons people dislike budgeting:

  1. Budgeting is time consuming. Some people are under the impression that developing a budget takes a lot of time that they really don’t have much of it.
  2. People don’t know the importance of budget. Ever notice how easy it is to spend money but difficult to take control of where your money is going each month? The truth of the matter is, no matter how much more money you make, your spending habits will grow to fit the gaps.
  3. Denial of the truth. Denial is usually the first sign of a problem. We can sometimes fool others concerning where we are financially, but we put ourselves in financial bondage when we try and fool ourselves. Budgeting is basically creating a plan; however, some people are afraid to identify where they are financially.

 

Why it’s important to budget

1.Budgeting gives you control over your money.

Setting a budget is a way of being intentional about the way you spend and save your money. It’s been said that with budgeting you control your money and not let your money control you.

  1. Budgeting can Keep you focused on your money goals.

You avoid spending money on items that do not contribute to attaining your financial goal when you are intentional about following a plan.

  1. Budgeting makes you more aware of what is going on with your money.

Budgeting helps you become clear on what money is coming in, how fast it’s going out and, most importantly, where is going.

  1. Budgeting enables you to save for expected and unexpected costs.

Budgeting allows you to plan to set aside money for emergency costs. We know that the car will need repairs, the baby will outgrow shoes or the house will need a roof; a budget helps us prepare for these expenses.

  1. Developing a budget can help you to communicate better with your spouse about money.

If we share money with our spouses and/or children, a budget can help each person understand how the money is being spent.

 

I have personally come to realize that budgeting is my family’s roadmap for financial success. This also promotes teamwork on working for common financial goals and prevents conflicts on how the money is being used. Remember Together Everyone Achieves More (TEAM).

There are many resources available on budgeting available online. It is wise to choose a plan that takes into consideration biblical concepts as well. The important thing is to start spending time with your money.

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