Budgeting IS a four letter word.
Yes, it’s true – like many of the flavorful short phrase expletives….#!@#%, [beep]...that commonly express a strong feeling or emotion (most often one of frustration or disdain), budgeting can also be described as a four letter word, in fact, THREE. of. them.
Quite the opposite of traditional expletives though, these words don’t call for cleaning out Ralphie’s mouth with soap (cue image from the movie: A Christmas Story) and are prone to evoke positive feelings and actions.
As a primer, I should mention that I view budgeting as one key and central piece to the holistic concept of money care. I broadly define money care as “any mindset or action that leads to caring responsibly for one’s financial resources or those of a loved one." – quote: me.
Word #1: Verb:
Budgeting doesn’t just happen, nor is it a clever work of art that sits on the wall to look at – never changing as a ‘set-it-and-forget-it’ tool that’s nice to view as a loose guide (and feel guilty about) from time to time.
Budgeting requires our participation…our intentional action. It’s planning, implementation, adherence, adaptation, modification, and so forth, set on repeat in routine ongoing motion.
A budget is a dynamic supportive tool that keeps us moving in the right direction – but requires that we consciously keep taking steps along the way. The budget can be the igniting force that puts us on the path to building momentum in all the right ways, but only if we start.
My family started ‘active’ budgeting at the start of 2016. At that time, our ‘age-of-money’ was approximately 6 days, but now, over eight years later, our ‘age-of-money’ has consistently been over 100 days for over a year despite a recent large purchase. Slowly and surely, we’ve been walking away from the financial ledge with the help of budgeting via the tool of YNAB (You Need A Budget).
Word #2: Care:
Budgeting is an act of self-care that also leads to caring well for others and is, (in my opinion), one of the most overlooked and underrated forms of mindfulness. This is conscious and practical mindfulness at its finest.
When we budget, we mindfully attach our dollars to future spending that is aligned with our values and a plan that fits within our means. We naturally become more curiously observant of our money habits and understand ourselves better through the process.
When we take control of what we’re responsible for managing (stewarding), we are more confident and empowered. No one else can do this for us. We are in charge of what we can control. It’s a mindful choice.
Word #3: Love:
Sure, it sounds mushy and is connected to the two words above, but it’s the word that most completely captures the full idea…binding together the virtues of the other words in harmony when we add the most important ingredient to the mix: the motives of our heart—the spirit behind our ‘why’.
It’s prudent to acknowledge that money can affect our hearts and touches every area of life.
We can build a heightened sense of awareness of what our money is for when we connect it to how it enables us to care for and love people well (both ourselves and others). Gratitude naturally follows. Labeling and identifying the impact of our spending as acts of love is a powerful practice and not hard to implement.
To sum this all up, as an acronym, I don’t find it surprising how fitting L.O.V.E. can describe budgeting:
L: Living.
O: Out.
V: Values.
E. Everyday.
That’s it. That’s budgeting set into motion through caring actions for the right reasons….all tied together in love. Budgeting: a Verb, Care, and Love.
As a budget coach, it’s my honor to help you walk through living this out with simple step-by-step actions and fresh perspectives. I’d love to set up a free chat to help you take the first step forward. Shoot me an email and we can set something up.