Be sure to know the condition of your flocks, give careful attention to your herds Click To TweetProverbs 27:23

Getting started with a budget can be hard.

I started by doing a “budget” on an excel sheet. The problem was my spreadsheet used averages and it was only a life event change that would make me open it up (now what folder did I save that in?).  When I say life event, I am talking about a job change (or pay change), marriage, divorce, kids, or probably the more frequent “new” debt.  What will this awesome truck do to the budget was all I cared about.  This type of budgeting may sound familiar and I would compare that to kindergarten in the world of understanding money. 

Now let’s talk about what it really means to budget when you are ready to take control!  The bible says in Proverbs 27:23, “Be sure to know the condition of your flocks, give careful attention to your herds”.  To know the condition of your flock (your money) you must get serious about knowing where it goes.  Your income is your greatest wealth-building tool.  Think about that for a minute.  Debt drains but your income can build wealth when you truly understand and direct each dollar the way you want! 

People need a clear why to make a mental shift to the importance of budgeting.

To help with understanding the why let’s talk perspective.  Areas such as finances, spirituality, and relationships are all impacted when you get control of your finances.  Sit down with your spouse (or accountability person) and spend time discussing your why. 

Once you are clear on the why and are ready to move forward you get to start telling your money what to do and not the other way around.  Here are several tips when it comes to budgeting:

1. Do a new budget EVERY month – things change, expenses come and go, keeping track of what changes from month to month is important.
2. Have a budget meeting with your spouse (or accountability person) each month – this gives everyone a chance to voice their opinion. Everyone must be in the game to win.
3. Track everything – yes EVERYTHING. You’ll likely need to make adjustments mid-month and that’s ok. Life happens and when it does you can sit down with your budget and you will be able to see where you can adjust and how it impacts other categories of the budget.

Budgeting gets easier with time.

Give yourself three months to develop a flow.  No one starts something new and masters it out of the gate.  For those that love sports, the analogy “Winners Keep Score” was never truer.  Try not to be so fixated on the score that you do not enjoy playing the game.  The greatest NBA players cannot have those hero moments if they are paralyzed looking at the scoreboard.  FMG can help you set up a plan to budget effectively and ultimately put you in control of YOUR money.  Winning with money is fun and is possible for everyone. Now it’s time to get in the game.  

Photo by Miguel Bruna on Unsplash