Avoid Budget Burnout

When people first think about starting a budget to save money they get all excited. Finding different tips and tricks to have more money in your account seems like a thrill. They get their notebook out and start taking notes and apply the techniques. The savings start showing in their accounts and it seems like all is fine. And then the Budget Burnout happens!!!!!!!

Before we get into how to Avoid Budget Burnout lets first look at what is.....

Budget Burnout is just what it says. When you get so burnout on budgeting that you just want to quit. How do you get to this point? There are several different reasons why this happens. You could be budgeting like a boss but realize that you have nothing to show for all your hard work. You may think that it's to much work for very little profit. You could begin to get lazy and think it takes up to much time. Or the most common reason is that you've done great at budgeting and have actually saved money but you feel like you could afford to take a break. 

Whatever the reason for Budget Burnout understand that it happens. No one can predict when and how it will happen. Thankfully there are some tips you can use to avoid it. Now there are several hundreds of blogs and articles that will basically tell you the same thing. I'm going to give you what I've done personally myself to ensure that we don't get to this point.

- Budget For Something Fun

We all have something fun that we want to do. It could be a fun trip or something fun you can do at home. Whatever the reason make sure that it something fun that you can do as a family. Have a dinner and a movie night once a month or go on an adventure. For our son's birthday, we did a budget for a membership to the Zoo and Aquarium. We had a great time as a family and we get to enjoy it all year.

- Keep It Simple

Your budget is only as complicated as you make it. By keeping it simple you can avoid feeling overwhelmed. The best way to do this is to focus on your grocery budget which can eat up a good chunk of your money and to save for one thing at a time. Now take in mind this is after you've paid off any debt you have like credit card debt. Using an Excel spreadsheet helps out so much. It will total everything for me and all I have to do is key in my figures and I'm done. Understand that your budget doesn't have to be perfect because you're not perfect. 

- Share The Responsibility

Everyone knows that I'm a firm believer that having a budget should be a group effort. It's hard to avoid burnout when you're the only one in the household who cares and handles the budget. My husband may not know how I do our budget but he does watch his spending and helps out when I ask. I don't keep things from him and he's not the type of person to just go around blowing money. Be open with the people in your home and celebrate your success when you succeed. 

- Switch It Up

Accept the fact that things just happen through no fault of our own. You have to learn to be open-minded and adapt to changes in your life. Maybe what worked one way doesn't work anymore. The important thing is to realize that you can change your budget system to what works for you and your household. I've heard several times from people that there's only one way to budget and that's far from the truth. If you googled budgeting systems you would be shocked at the thousands of blogs and articles that come up. There's no one right way to budget. Sure the fundamentals are the same but everyone has different things that work for them. So if you feel like you're feeling the burnout with your current system then try another. Eventually, you will find what works for you but just know that it might not be the case years down the road. 

- Be Realistic 

Sure most financial advisors will tell you that you need to save up to 6 to 12 months worth of bills in savings for the "What If" things that might happen. But let's get real.....I don't know about you but we don't make that much money, By being realistic with your goals you can ensure that you actually reach them. The only person that knows how much you can budget is you and that budget can only stretch so far. Start off with small goals and work you're way up from there. I've seen too many times where people will set unrealistic goals and then blame budgeting for when it doesn't work. 

- Don't Be Embarrassed 

I don't know why people think that those who are on a budget apparently don't have the money or are control freaks. This really gets me fired up. The main reason why people refuse to be on a budget is that they feel like they don't have a problem. You don't have to be in debt to be on a budget and honestly, I don't care how much money we made I would still budget no matter what. You should NEVER feel embarrassed at all. My husband left his debit card at home for 4 months and only used his allowance. Sure some guys that he worked with tried to bring him down over it but the way he looked at it was that those were the same people that work their butts off every day and had nothing to show for it. 

Some people consider me a control freak because I budget. Now take in mind that I have two spreadsheets that I use but I'm extra...LOL. I've told ya'll before that I'm an OCD perfectionist so that should come as no surprise. Having a budget doesn't make you a control freak because you are ensuring that you're putting money back for your family. 

- Never Give Up

Remember why you started a Budget in the first place. Often we will lose sight of what's important. I get a personal thrill when I see the reward from having a Budget but you can get caught up in that excitement and forget what originally made you want to budget. Stay focused and remember that just because you reached your goal that doesn't mean you can't have new ones.

I hope you found this helpful. Let me know in the comments below ways that you avoid Budget Burnout. 

@livingtobudget