13 Reasons NOT To Have A Budget – And 1 Reason You SHOULD
Following up on my Budget Basics post I thought it would be fun to come up with a list of reasons NOT to have a budget. I know 13 is usually considered an unlucky number, but so is not having a budget. So, here goes:
- Creating a budget is way too much work and takes up valuable time that you could be spending playing WOW or COD.
- You feel loved when your phone rings so you enjoy getting calls from bill collectors.
- A budget would show you where you’re spending too much money and you really don’t want to change your spending habits.
- You love working so much that you never want to retire anyway, so why budget and save?
- You live in your parent’s basement and have no plans on ever moving out.
- You don’t care how much money you spend. If your checking account is empty you simply pull out the credit card.
- You have no financial goals so see no reason to plan your spending and savings.
- You’ve never used a budget before and think that you’re doing just fine, even if you do have $20,000 in credit card debt. I mean everyone has credit card debt right? So what’s the big deal.
- If you had a budget you might feel accountable to stick to it and you hate feeling accountable for anything.
- You’ve budgeted before and no matter what you put in for the expenses for each category you’re always wrong. The expenses are never what you thought they were going to be anyway and you hate being wrong like that every month.
- You’re a free spirit who doesn’t believe in the whole planning thing. It’s too restrictive man, just go with the flow.
- You need to hide money from your spouse and if you created a budget he/she would know how much you really make and where it’s being spent.
- You perform better when you’re under stress and not know where you’ll get the money to pay your bills each month gives you lots of stress.
And now the 1 very good reason you SHOULD have a budget:
It is like the tiller that steers your financial ship into safe waters and a stable
harbor. Nearly every financial decision that you need to make can be guided by your
budget.
Can we afford that new house?…ask your budget
Do we spend to
much on restaurants?…ask your budget
Should we take a vacation to Europe?…ask
your budget
Big screen TV…new pair of shoes…furniture…home
improvements…ASK YOUR BUDGET!
Hope you all enjoyed that and if you have any other good reasons for and against a budget please leave them in the comments below.
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Ha! I do think making a budget is a great idea. Loved the irony in this post.
Thanks Craig, so do I. I just wanted to put a bit of a light hearted spin on the negative connotation that creating and following a budget sometimes receives. Really glad you liked it
A very nice use of satire to point out the importance of having a budget. I feel sorry for anyone who falls into the category regarding the reasons for not keeping a budget. Nice post!
Thanks Anthony, I’m glad you enjoyed it.
I tried keeping a budget, I really did. Unfortuantely, I don’t really have a working budget right now. What I do is I keep track of my expenses (so at least I know where my money is going), and I put 25% of my pay into 401K, and I have automatic deductions from my checking account every month to go into my saving accounts. But otherwise… no line-by-line budget. Once things calm down a little bit in my financial life I’m going to get back on that wagon. But for now I am trying to just tread water for a bit.
If you are keeping track of your expenses, know what your income is and are consistently saving then you do sort of have a budget (in your head at least). It’s still better than nothing, but hopefully things will calm down enough so you can do a more formal budget. It can’t hurt
This is awesome! Tweeting! I got another one for you. I used to actually say that I would rather have a good time today than die with a bunch of money tomorrow. Face palm!
Funny Michelle, I used to say pretty much the same thing. That’s one of the attitudes that got us both into so much trouble with debt.
14. You are the king of frugality. You never spend more than absolutely the minimum to stay alive and every month you manage to spend less than the previous one. You weight 43.5 kilos now, eat 3 times a week. Making a budget just hold you back to reduce your expenses even further.
Good addition Van Beek!
Looks like it’s a lot easier to come up with reasons NOT to do something than reasons to do something.
I guess that’s just human nature to try and avoid things, even if it’s harder on us in the end.
Did I spot the slightest bit of irony in your post Money Infant? 😉 haha.
Really enjoyable post though, I didn’t think encouraging people to have a budget could be made so enjoyable.
Michael
Just a touch of irony yeah. If personal finance is enjoyable maybe more people will be successful at it.
15) I’m too pretty to do math.
Lol, I absolutely loved this.
Maybe the best reason of all
I agree, having a budget is not even half as important as leveling up on COD! Hahaa, in all seriousness though, I would much rather read a fun financial post than a dull and boring one!
Great work
It not like we all need to make budgets. Some people live day by day until the next pay off and doesn’t mind budgeting their money. As for me, I want to buy something so I really have to spend less everyday just save up money. Frugal living is quite trending, I guess they should try it sometimes.
Veryy good post. I will be going through many of these issues as well..