Let’s be honest, OK?  Most people cringe when someone suggests that they need to create a budget as part of their financial process.  If you are one of those people, stop and ask yourself why you are taken back by something as simple as creating a budget.  I think there are a couple of reasons why people shy away from creating a budget:

  1. They don’t want to face the reality that is the financial mess of their lives, and they know doing a budget will expose all of the things they are doing wrong.
  2. They feel that creating a budget is going to impose restrictions on how they live their lives and spend their money.

So how to we get around these feelings?  Here are some ideas:

  1. Don’t use the budget as a judgement tool.  It makes no sense to beat yourself up over what you’ve done.  Rather than judge, use the budget to understand the problems you are facing in an unemotional and non judgmental way.  Your attitude should be — “It is what it is.  Now what am I going to do about it?”
  2. Rather than seeing a budget as a tool that restricts, be willing to look at the longer term impact of a budget.  If you use it as a tool to get your finances on the right track, you can get out of debt, build wealth for the future, and ultimately live the life you choose to live.  In other words, you are making short-term sacrifices for long-term gain.

Creating a using a budget in a positive way requires a change in mindset.  Once that change occurs, however, your attitude toward money, debt, and wealth will change right along with it.