Around 9 years ago, my parents were going through Dave Ramsey's "Financial Peace University" class, and somehow I ended up coming along. I was put right next to my parents in a circle of chairs I can only describe as a "circle of regret." I don't remember exactly what people were saying, but I do remember hearing loud and clear: "don't do what we did." Truthfully, it was more like "do what we didn't."
I'm 19 years old and I make about $12k a year. Halfway through the year, I decided I was tired of panicking at the end of the month (as it turns out, it's really easy to literally eat everything you make while you're working during college). I decided I needed to start actually saying "no" to things I didn't have the money for. I decided I wanted control of what little I have so I didn't mess it up when I'm given the privilege of managing a job with a salary that pays 3x more than what I'm making now.
For the last four months now, I've been budgeting using an app called EveryDollar, and it's amazing the amount of relief it is to have a plan. I've managed to pay for $350 (including Lyft) in car repairs using my line of credit -- my savings account called my "Emergency Fund" -- rather than have to take out a loan, and I now have that back. I'm able to have a fixed amount of money I can carry around with me all the time, freely giving to people who need money more than I do. For the first time, I'll have enough money to pay for Christmas presents for everyone I love. I realized that I have a spending problem with my debit card and food, and I now carry $2 bills with a fixed $8-$9 a day budget ($270 next month) for food, and I've since stopped overspending. And most importantly, if I want to go spend $50 on Amazon, I can do that.
One indication of the peace this has given me is my average daily checking account balance, which has risen to its highest average daily balance since last November.. In practice, this means that I'm not losing my mind over the $50 I'm waiting to get back from Amazon after I came to my senses and returned what I impulse-bought -- I don't even feel it.
TL;Dr; With Christmas just about two months away now, I highly recommend you start budgeting. I would say that it brings you peace beyond understanding, but the peace comes from understanding.
Submitted October 29, 2018 at 02:49AM by htmlarson https://ift.tt/2PwluWY
