Budgeting Well
By: Anika Fasset
One of the craziest and most counter-intuitive things to me is that there is freedom in discipline. It makes sense when you think about it, but I don’t think it’s instinctual. Having discipline is important in every area of your life from health to time to money. There’s a reason so many successful people live very disciplined lives, and their days are scheduled almost down to the minute. But instead of deep diving into that, I want to focus on just one aspect of that which is discipline with money and how there is freedom in budgeting.
When I was in college, I was always worried about creating a budget because I thought it would make me aware of how little money I had. So instead, I lived in ignorance for four years and was still somehow surprised when and if I checked my bank account balance that it was so low. I thought it was easier to not know and frankly, I was scared to know. Now that I’ve graduated and have rent and loans to pay and can’t rely on a meal plan for every meal, I knew that budgeting was non-negotiable, and I had to face that fear head on. And what I’ve found through that is incredible freedom, which is the last thing I expected.
I made so many excuses to not do it and money was probably the biggest stressor I had in college. In talking to my friends, I know a lot of them agree. I made a different amount of money each month depending on how many hours I could work, so I thought it would be more difficult to plan because it wasn’t consistent. If I had just taken the time to count my hours and determine my varying monthly incomes, I would’ve been a whole lot less stressed. College is stressful for so many reasons, so getting rid of even one of those would have made a world
of difference.
I thought a budget would restrict my spending, but it has expanded it. Now when I go to the grocery store, I know how much money I have to spend on food, and most of the time that means that I have more money than I need, so I can buy myself a treat at the end of my shopping trip if I want one and not feel any anxiety creeping in. I found I could afford nicer quality toiletry items than I expected. So now instead of feeling like I’m splurging on Native body wash, I know that it is well within my budget when before I felt like I was doing something wrong. It’s a complete mindset shift to walk into a store knowing how much I have to spend instead of going in knowing I needed things and guessing which brands or items I could afford. Instead of shopping and money being a stressor now, it’s a very calm and almost relaxing experience. Obviously, I just can’t go buy anything I want just because I have a budget, but it’s opened way more doors than it’s closed. I’ve learned there are things I actually can afford that before I thought I couldn’t simply because I didn’t take a minute to open my banking app and look. I like knowing what I can and can’t do, so that brings me peace instead of it feeling like a chore.
I have a fancy little Excel spreadsheet that I love updating and looking over each month and I also downloaded an app on my phone that I can log each transaction into so I’m aware of how much I’m actually spending on things like coffee each month. Those two things have made it enjoyable to budget. Making my Excel sheet pretty made it fun, and little things like that can make a big difference. I start with the things that I know I have to pay each month and act like I don’t even see them because I pay them the same day that I get paid. The rest of my check I divide between my checking and savings based on how my money is allocated, and I’m set to go for the month. I think about money less now than I ever have before which has improved my quality of life and mental health in so many ways.
I am definitely not perfect with my budget; some months I am really good about it and some months I really struggle. However, I am also learning to give myself grace and knowing that as long as I can afford the important things each month then I am doing alright. Plus, learning how to manage your money is a life-long skill that seems daunting but really is so simple. Getting started learning and practicing as early as possible will set you up for success later in life. Budgeting and money management is so much easier than I thought it was, and the thought of it is way scarier than actually doing it, which I’ve found is true with most things. I’ve also learned that most of the time the most difficult things are the things most worth doing.
