Take off the Straight Jacket
You probably think of budgets as straight jackets for your money, that putting down on paper (or into a computer spreadsheet) just where your money is going to go each month is too confining, too restrictive. But like water, money needs to flow. If you don’t clearly define where it will go, whether it’s a holding tank for a future need, or directly into the current of your daily spending, your money will just slip through the cracks, dripping out of your life.
One simple concept that made budgeting much less confining for me is the “blow money” category. [Read more →]