When Budgeting Gets You Down

It seems like doing the right thing should always feel good. We read the same thing over and over again from every source: financial planners, blogs, friends, accountants… if you want to be in control of your finances, your life, and ultimately, your future, you have to live by a budget. There are tons of resources out there that teach us what budgets are good for, how to create one, how to use one, how to live by one.
Some people never get past the “knowing what to do” part to the “doing what you need to do” part. I have a feeling that if you’re reading this article, you’re not one of those people. Our readers are actively involved in living their lives intentionally to get the results they want.
At Home Ever After we teach organization, preparation, financial management and household management, along with many other things. I have a feeling that you already have a budget, use your coupons, and try to manage your family’s money the best to run your household on as little as possible.
With this is mind, I can confide that sometimes doing the right thing – in this case living by your budget- does NOT always feel good. Being in control of your finances and spending can sometimes get you down.  Is ignorance really bliss? If so, is it worth it to have that no-budget bliss now and have to worry about what you will live on when it’s time to retire? In my heart, I know it’s not worth it.

Making Smart Choices with Money

That is precisely why we continue to budget and live below our means.  We all have hard decisions with our money, and we all have different circumstances.  The important thing to remember is that every hard decision we make now will benefit us in the future!
Every smart choice we make with our families’ incomes takes us one step closer to where we want to be. Always remember that the choices we make now are ones we want to be proud to tell our children about when they are grown. We want to teach them NOW to live deliberately and to make smart choices, and let them see that even though our money is limited right now, it won’t always be like that.  Show them that we can take care of our families frugally and still have a wonderful lifestyle by living below our means.
So if a night of looking at the budget and wondering how you will make the paycheck stretch has you a little depressed, remember this:  Even if doing the right thing gets you down, know that hard choices today make for easy ones in the future!
We originally published When Budgeting Gets you Down on 3/16/08.