Do you enjoy your money? Surprisingly, many people don’t actually enjoy the cash they work so hard for because it’s a source of stress. This is especially true if you worry about how you’re going to pay your credit card bills or whether you’ll have enough in your checking account to buy things you want.
Finance expert Dave Ramsey has some advice so these financial worries don’t have to be your fate. In fact, he suggests that doing one basic thing can actually enable you to get a lot more enjoyment out of your funds. The big question is, is Ramsey right about this?
Here’s how Ramsey says you can increase your enjoyment of your money
Ramsey’s solution to enjoying your money more is a simple one: You need to make a budget. He believes doing this will enable both savers and spenders to be a lot happier with their money-management efforts.
It may seem hard to believe the process of allocating your dollars to different tasks by using a budget would actually improve your financial life. After all, budgeting can feel kind of tedious and create the impression that you’re depriving yourself by forcing yourself to live on strict limits. But there are some very good reasons why budgeting can improve your life.
“When you’ve got everything covered in your budget, you know there’s space for spending,” Ramey explained. “You won’t worry about the electric bill not getting paid because you decided to treat yourself to a new sweater. If you’ve got a clothing or personal spending budget line, and there’s money in there to buy the new sweater — buy it!”
Ramsey said savers will also enjoy making a budget because “a budget gives you permission to stash cash, without being a Scrooge. Once you’ve budgeted for all your needs and a couple of fun things (trust me, savers, you should budget for fun — even if it’s just a little) you can put all that extra money in savings. With zero regret.”
Is Ramsey right?
Ramsey is 100% spot on about the benefits of budgeting. The reality is, you may not like the process of making a budget, but if you do it right, you should enjoy living on it because it allows you to get the absolute most value out of your money and to make sure you can enjoy the things that matter most to you.
A budget doesn’t have to remove the fun spending from your life and — in fact, it shouldn’t, or you won’t stick to the plan. A budget gives you a chance to spend your money more purposefully so you are actually using it for the entertainment and splurge purchases you really want. And it enables you to do this without guilt or constant stress about money since you have a plan in place.
When you make a budget, for example, you could eliminate the unnecessary spending you do on things that don’t really matter to devote more of your money to whatever your passions are, whether that’s vacations, fancy handbags, or a better car. And if you work these items into your budget while also making sure you’ve allocated funds to saving for the future, you’ll actually get to enjoy them more without worry.
So give Ramsey’s advice a try. Find a budgeting approach that works for you and put your plan in place today.
