Everyone talks about how to save money and why you must do so, but it’s very few who actually want to know WHY people don’t budget in the first place.
I mean, that’s how I would process any problem. People getting broke? Why?
Here are 10 reasons why people don’t budget (really, 10 types of people who don’t budget):
- “Bread and water” – People hear “budget” and the first thing that comes in their minds is “Wait, I can’t live on bread and water! What do you want, dead?” Oh yeah? When your government makes annual budgets for different sectors of the economy, then why don’t you get that image in your head, hmm?
- They’re afraid of what they’re gonna find out – This is the classic example of “We fear what we don’t know” philosophy, only that this one works in the reverse direction – Deep inside, you know the hole you have been digging yourself into, and to avoid that darkness, you consciously try to make excuses and, just not go to the edge of the water.
- Budget abuse – I know a guy who coerced money from me because he was out of his budget and couldn’t ask his parents for money. And let me tell you – almost a year later, I found out that he lied to me. And guess what, he doesn’t budget.
- Pride – Some people are so egoistic and bursting out of pride that they find the idea of creating and sticking to a budget ridiculous. Sure, it’s a pride for you to get a high paying job, but what differentiates pride and ego is the willingness to see things as it is. Asking everyone for money at the end of the month while hogging on Jack Daniels daily is stupid.
- Laziness – This reminds me of that “laziness” meme – I’m not lazy, I’m just in energy saver mode. I understand. I can say that I am lazy when it comes to getting up from my chair and bring a spoon from the kitchen (not if I can’t help it) and would rather beg my younger sister to do it. If that be the case, then at least stick to a budget when your best friend makes one for you!! He helped you! It would be a dishonor to your friendship with him!!
- Don’t know how to prepare one- Okay, this reason here can be totally vouched for, and I won’t say anything bad about this, cause these people at least use Google to learn how to budget. I would be much more proud of these people than the broke ones because they’ve accepted their mistakes.
- Past failures at budgeting – Past failures can often be a roadblock when you are trying to start a new future or even move on from bad experiences. When you have accepted your mistakes, tried to make a budget too, and failed, the best way of tackling this is to automate your money flows. I have failed in sticking to budgets too. I automated a fixed amount to be deducted from my checking amount to my mother’s savings’ account. Another fixed amount goes to my retirement savings account. And the amount gets deducted exactly on my payday. So you see, I barely get time to lament about a sudden decrease in my “paycheck”.
- It will lead to marital fights – One of the dumbest reasons two of my “love birds” classmates broke up (thankfully they weren’t married, yet) was because the guy would pay for all his girlfriend’s shopping expenses (she had access to his credit card) and she would (obviously) not pay a dime. And by the time they were “happily together” for 6 months, he simply had to break up with her ‘cause she was as irresponsible as irresponsible goes. After I bombarded him with questions as to why he didn’t do this sooner, he just murmured, “I was too much in love with her, I couldn’t afford to lose her.”
- You are a free spirit – Let me tell you a secret: As soon as you leave your parent’s home, you have to fend and feed for yourself. You have to be a responsible adult and start adulting in a way that would be best for both you and your parents. You have loans? Hustle hard to pay it off, or your children will have to pay it back. Don’t make your mom worried sick about how her baby is surviving in this big bad world. The sooner you embrace personal finance, the sooner you can gain financial independence.
- You have got plenty of money left at the end of the month – Congrats! You truly aren’t broke! But here’s what the rap sensation Ace Hood learnt when his second album didn’t meet up the lofty sales expectations :“Now, if I make $100,000 per month, I save at least $60,000,” he explains. “You definitely have to save for rainy days. You never know. It could rain, but then again it might storm. Hail might come. Maybe a tornado.”
“When life gets you down, you know what you gotta do? Just keep saving.” — My version of Dory