Contrary to popular belief, keeping a budget is not depriving yourself of the things you love. It's actually the opposite. It's giving yourself the freedom to enjoy the things you want to enjoy with your money.
Because you planned your spending in advance.
A monthly budget is making a plan for your money before the month begins. The equation is simple:
Income - Expenses = Leftover (Don't spend more than this!)
You can use whatever is left however you want. You can save it for a rainy day. Invest in your kids' college. Put it away for retirement. You can also enjoy some of it for whatever you want.
But the most important thing to remember is not to spend more than you make. This is how you stay out of debt.
But, keeping track of your spending can be time consuming and hard to keep track of. That's where the miracle app Everydollar comes into play.
I could show you screenshots and steps, but I think you'll enjoy watching the video for that more. The important takeaway is that Everydollar takes care of all the math for you. All you have to do is set the budget up at the beginning of the month, and then track your spending as you go.
If that feels like too much, you can upgrade to the paid Pro version to connect to your bank account. Then, every transaction will automatically be recorded and tracked.
When I did my first Everydollar budget, I came to two shocking realizations.
The first was that I was embarrassingly wasteful with my spending.
And the second was that, at my community music school job at the time, I wasn't making enough money to do the things I wanted to do. To retire with dignity. To pay for my kids' college. To enjoy my life. I was never going to get there with these numbers.
A number of other events transpired before quitting and going into business for myself. But, it all started with making the decision to live on cash, ditch debt forever, and creating that first monthly budget.
And now, I can say with confidence that I life a financially peaceful life, there's no question I will be able to pay for my kids' college, and I know what my future looks like.
The alternative is reckless spending, money stress, and fear about the future.
Or worse yet, denial. Too many of us music teachers just hope that things will work out someday. Or, we decide we'll just work forever for the "love of the work." But, that's not how it goes. Without the power of budgeting, whether you like it or not, you will retire broke.
Give EveryDollar a try today, and please let me know what you think in the comments below. Any surprises? Discover any changes you want to make? Or, maybe you think I'm full of it? All thoughts, stories, and perspectives are welcome! But you'll never know until you actually try it.
Sign up for a free account (it takes all of about 10 seconds) here.