Is a Budget Restricting?

by Contributing Blogger Aurora Medina M.A.

Many people equate the word budget with restriction. I find in my work as a money coach that many women refuse to do a budget for different reasons but the main one is that they feel that a budget is going to restrict them from getting the things they want.

These women change their attitude towards a budget when I tell them that it must include two lines, one that reads “Play Money”, and another one for “Savings.”

One of the definitions of budget is “a sum of money allocated for a particular purpose”. A budget does not have to be a tool to put restrictions on our spending. It is to get organized with our money. It is our measurement to help us see where our money is going, to have balance.

It is important that we understand that most of our spending is done in a very unconscious way. A budget helps us to set priorities on where do we want our money to go.

If we want to be successful with our money the first step is to sit down with a journal and write what is important to us in life, list of priorities. After we are clear about it, we can make a plan on how we are going to allocate our money to get those things.

If we continue to spend our money in things that bring us instant gratification we’ll never get the things that really matter to us.

Plan your expenses; it will give you peace of mind, another way to change your relationship with money.

[Note from Aurelia:  Sometimes "Gathering Support Around You" can mean putting the right *systems* in place, not just people.  In this note, Aurora continues to challenge us to think about our relationship with money and how we can use the system of a budget to support us.]