Okay. How do you feel when I say the word "budget"? I know that word can make some people feel handcuffed, and it can make some people feel kind of nerdy and excited. It can make some people feel like they want to roll their eyes. There's just a lot of emotions tied to that word. To me, budget simply means one thing: accountability. It's staying accountable to your money, to your spending habits and to your financial goals. And accountability is good. It takes a mature person to want to be accountable to these things, but like most things in life that are worth pursuing, it's not super-complex. It's simple, but it's not always easy.

But this is what I love about budgets, and monthly budgets in particular: every single month you have a fresh start. There's a new beginning on the first of every month. You can jump in and make a new budget and that is okay. So, maybe you're listening to this and you're in a season of your life where you don't do a budget. Maybe you've never made a budget, or maybe you're like us and you used to be really diligent about it, but you've fallen off the bandwagon a little bit. That is okay. Every month you have a new opportunity to create a new budget. So go ahead right now, start working on next month's budget if you haven't gotten in the habit of it because it's so important. And if you don't take the time to tell your money where to go, then it's just going to disappear.

So today I'm excited to chat about three steps to a successful monthly budget that will keep you accountable and on track to meeting your financial goals!

For the full transcript, head to this episode's blog post!

 

Resources from this episode:

Episode 003 - The Contentment Challenge

Financial Peace University

EveryDollar App

Mint App

You Need a Budget App