Overcoming "budget-Phobia"

Christian talk radio with Rob West

To many people, the idea of living and spending on a written budget sounds restrictive and frightening. They might even suffer from what we like to call Budget-phobia. But today on MoneyWise, Rob West will explain how you can overcome your fears and use a spending plan to get control of your finances and put yourself firmly on a path to true financial freedom. We are fooling ourselves if we think we can stay out of debt and save for the future without a spending plan. However, we understand that budgeting can be a scary proposition for some. But what if there was a way to budget without really knowing that you’re doing it? OVERCOMING YOUR BUDGETING FEARS: Here’s how to overcome your fears of living on a spending plan. STEP 1: Pay attention to your spending. You don’t have to make any drastic changes right away. Use whatever method you like to monitor what you spend. The free MoneyWise app can help you do that. Simply tracking your spending will begin to reveal why you may not have enough money to cover your monthly obligations or invest for the future. And often, the simple act of tracking your spending will result in spending less. STEP 2: Next, start saving! Perhaps you’ve always wanted to save, but you were afraid it would cramp your lifestyle. You can take the worry out of saving by simply not thinking about it. Set up a system where you do it automatically. For short term savings like your emergency fund, have some of your money automatically transferred each month to a savings account where you don’t see it unless you’re looking. Online banks are great for this. For longer term investing, set up your 401k or IRA to automatically pull something out of your checking account each month. STEP 3: On a paper calendar, enter each purchase on the day you make it. As you do that, you’ll start to see whether you’ll have enough money to make it to the end of the month, hopefully with something left over. This may cause you to think about things you’re buying that you don’t really need. That’s good. Jot those items down. They’ll come in handy later. STEP 4: Add up all of your recurring monthly bills so you have one total number, and then include your saving and giving in that total. Let’s say it comes to $2,000. Divide that by the number of paychecks you get each month. And let’s say that’s four. So $2,000 divided by 4 gives you $500. Now you know you have to set that much aside every payday to meet your monthly obligations. STEP 5: Set up a completely separate checking or savings account for these recurring expenses. Again, you want to set up an automatic transfer of $500 from your checking account into this new account every payday. That way, you’ll always have enough money on hand to pay your bills. But here’s where you need to be careful. Once this is set up, the money for your bills and necessary expenses like groceries and gas will be pulled out of your checking account. You might be tempted to think you can spend freely with whatever’s left over. This is where you have to keep checking back with your list of daily expenditures. It’ll naturally help you curtail any impulse spending. Take any money you have left over and apply it to your debt or put it in savings. Once you do all of this, you’ll be living on a budget without even knowing it. And that’s how you beat budget-phobia! LISTENER QUESTIONS: On today’s program, Rob also answers listener questions: ●Does it make sense to build a new house heading into retirement years? ●If you borrow from a Roth IRA for a home purchase but don’t wind up using the cash for the house, what should you do with the money? ●What is the best strategy to pay off credit cards while protecting your credit score? ●Why are IRS tax refunds delayed? ●What is the best way for a retiree nearing 90 years of age to invest a six-figure sum so that it will bless heirs and ministries down the road? RESOURCES MENTIONED DURING THIS PROGRAM: ●IRS.gov/refunds ●Eventide Funds ●Praxis Mutual Funds ●Find a Certified Kingdom Advisor. Remember, you can call in to ask your questions most days at (800) 525-7000 or email them to [email protected] Also, visit our website at MoneyWise.org where you can connect with a MoneyWise Coach, join the MoneyWise Community, and even download the free MoneyWise app. Like and Follow us on Facebook at MoneyWise Media for videos and the very latest discussion! Remember that it’s your prayerful and financial support that keeps MoneyWise on the air. Help us continue this outreach by clicking the Donate tab on our website or in our app.