The Talk
I had the talk with myself. The talk that starts like this, "Tori, you have food at your house. Go home and make it. Don't go through the drive-thru. You can do this. Turn right, not left."
Convenience is my weakness. Or maybe it's a bit of laziness? I'll go with the first, it doesn't sound as bad. Convenience is the temptation that makes it so easy to stray off the path of what we call at our house "THE BUDGET!" DUN DUN DUNNNNNN!
Unfortunately, I learned about this budget thing later in my adulthood, and I'm a slow learner when it comes to this particular subject. When we decided to become a one-income family a few years back, I knew that things had to change and I knew that awful "b" word was going to be the way to do it. I know I'm being a bit dramatic, maybe that's where my children get it from.
Fast forward a few years later and here we are. I'm still having trouble with this thing called a budget. I've read books, I've listened to podcasts and shows, I've used tools and journals to help me track my spending habits. But those baby steps that I've been working on have been at a turtle pace.
A little while back, I talked about my want, well perhaps need, to minimize. Every month, I made my budget and it looked beautiful, all the percentages were right, it was a a zero-based budget, it was perfection! My favorite. One little problem though, by the end of the month, there was nothing perfect about it. I had pulled from this category to cover the category that I overspent in and the cycle continued until payday rolled back around.
If y'all know anything about me, you know I'm working on my reaction to when my plan doesn't go the way it was supposed to. I mean it's a plan, if it is not executed, then what was the point of the plan?! Working on it, but not there yet. I digress.
I knew something was wrong with the budget, but I could never pin point what it was. I would always tell myself, "Well I'm not making these outrageous purchases, why am I struggling with this?"
After years of mistakes, it all comes down to this...wants and needs are not the same thing.
We learn about it early in Social Studies class. The teacher asks: What is a want? Something you don't have to have to survive. Then she asks: What is a need? Something you need to live and survive.
Just because I want that new pillow for my couch and it would match my decor perfectly, doesn't mean I need it because truth be told, I have two very nice pillows already on my couch.
Just because I want to go through the drive-thru because it will be so much easier doesn't mean I need to because truth be told, I just went to the grocery store yesterday.
Just because I want that new shiny beautiful SUV doesn't mean I need it because truth be told, I have a perfectly good vehicle in my driveway that gets me where I need to go.
Perspective is what I need to change to get to where I want to go. Free from the stress of money and the dreaded "b" word. I still have work to do, but I'm slowly figuring out what it means to say no to a want and live according to my needs.
"Doing a budget means learning an ancient and powerful word: no." ~Dave Ramsey
Not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need. I can do all things through Him who strengthens me. Philippians 4:11-13
With love,
Tori
Convenience is my weakness. Or maybe it's a bit of laziness? I'll go with the first, it doesn't sound as bad. Convenience is the temptation that makes it so easy to stray off the path of what we call at our house "THE BUDGET!" DUN DUN DUNNNNNN!
 |
| Young and in love with a lot to learn. |
Unfortunately, I learned about this budget thing later in my adulthood, and I'm a slow learner when it comes to this particular subject. When we decided to become a one-income family a few years back, I knew that things had to change and I knew that awful "b" word was going to be the way to do it. I know I'm being a bit dramatic, maybe that's where my children get it from.
Fast forward a few years later and here we are. I'm still having trouble with this thing called a budget. I've read books, I've listened to podcasts and shows, I've used tools and journals to help me track my spending habits. But those baby steps that I've been working on have been at a turtle pace.
A little while back, I talked about my want, well perhaps need, to minimize. Every month, I made my budget and it looked beautiful, all the percentages were right, it was a a zero-based budget, it was perfection! My favorite. One little problem though, by the end of the month, there was nothing perfect about it. I had pulled from this category to cover the category that I overspent in and the cycle continued until payday rolled back around.
If y'all know anything about me, you know I'm working on my reaction to when my plan doesn't go the way it was supposed to. I mean it's a plan, if it is not executed, then what was the point of the plan?! Working on it, but not there yet. I digress.
I knew something was wrong with the budget, but I could never pin point what it was. I would always tell myself, "Well I'm not making these outrageous purchases, why am I struggling with this?"
After years of mistakes, it all comes down to this...wants and needs are not the same thing.
We learn about it early in Social Studies class. The teacher asks: What is a want? Something you don't have to have to survive. Then she asks: What is a need? Something you need to live and survive.
Just because I want that new pillow for my couch and it would match my decor perfectly, doesn't mean I need it because truth be told, I have two very nice pillows already on my couch.
Just because I want to go through the drive-thru because it will be so much easier doesn't mean I need to because truth be told, I just went to the grocery store yesterday.
Just because I want that new shiny beautiful SUV doesn't mean I need it because truth be told, I have a perfectly good vehicle in my driveway that gets me where I need to go.
Perspective is what I need to change to get to where I want to go. Free from the stress of money and the dreaded "b" word. I still have work to do, but I'm slowly figuring out what it means to say no to a want and live according to my needs.
"Doing a budget means learning an ancient and powerful word: no." ~Dave Ramsey
 |
| "You spent how much at the grocery store?!" |
Not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need. I can do all things through Him who strengthens me. Philippians 4:11-13
With love,
Tori
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