13 Budgeting Myths You Can't Afford To Believe

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You’ve probably heard a lot of absurd talks about budgeting cons, why you should run away from budgeting, why it will ruin your financial life, or why you simply hate budgeting because of the myths the media, and your friends have fed you.

I suggest you don’t rule out budgeting, at least until you hear me out!

Having a budget is an important step in living the dream you always desired to live. You must know where your money flows each month and how you can rearrange it to suit your needs.

If at the end of each month, 80% of your salary vanishes, if you don’t know for sure who’s taking it from you, you’re in a serious problem.

It’s 2024 and if you don’t know why your expenses are through the roof, why you can’t afford to pay your wifi bill but have the money to spend on an iPhone, you seriously need to do something!

To help you clarify some popular myths on budgeting, I’ve debunked 13 such Budgeting Myths that you can’t afford to miss!

Before we begin busting myths if you plan on Budgeting your expenses in printable form, here’s the link to my budgeting worksheet that I’m sure you’ll love!

Myth #1: Budgeting is Incredibly Complex

What is Budgeting? In simple words, Budgeting is “Money In “compared to “Money out” How can that be difficult?

If you make ₹40,000 a year and you spend ₹30,000 that year, your total savings is 40,000 – 30,000 = ₹10,000. This is the most basic use of budgeting.

Budgeting is hard for those who think it’s hard. In reality, budgeting is playing a game in which you have to use logical reasoning, a bit of maths (you can do well even if you’re bad at it), be consistent, and strive to make a change in your life.

If you can do that, budgeting is the easiest thing you can start doing right away.

Most people who say budgeting is complicated usually have a fear of knowing how much money they waste or they have a math problem.

You don’t need a degree in finance or a post-graduation certificate to be good at budgeting. As long as you are willing to change your life for the better and are firm about financial freedom, budgeting should be fairly easy for you to do.

Myth #2: Debt is Unbeatable

It’s irrelevant that you go to work even if you hate working. It’s irrelevant that you get up in the morning knowing you’re going to have a bad day ahead.

It’s not irrelevant, it’s you being pessimistic about your life. Giving up on your debts because it’s too difficult is the WORST approach to having a happy and debt-free life.

Get this straight – You’ve already taken up debt, and you have to pay it back, and there is no other way out of this.

The only question you should ask yourself is whether you want to take 5 years to pay it off or 15 years!

So put on your mean macho faces and fight against the one thing that is destroying you – The Nasty Debt. You can’t enjoy life if every time you earn, the bank takes a huge chunk of it in monthly installments.

They’re enjoying making money out of you, it’s time you end this relationship as soon as you can and make life happen to suit your needs and wants.

Now that you’re ready to save your world by destroying debt, don’t go too hard and give away all the money you have to the bank to repay the loan fast, that’s dumb!

You need money to survive, for emergencies, and day-to-day expenses, right? That’s where budgeting helps you achieve those goals systemically without creating a fuss.

Getting rid of debt may seem impossible right now, but I assure you, be consistent in pouring money towards repayment and soon it will be achievable. You can do it, I’m very confident you can.

Myth #3: Budgeting is Boring

Hmmm…so you feel budgeting is boring. Do you know what else is boring? Huge credit card statement and the bank call for late house loan payments.

What’s boring is not being able to spend your money knowing that you’ll not go broke, knowing that you’re taking care of your finances and your budget will help you stay away from financial problems!

I can’t relate to this because I love maths and I love budgeting too.

You feel budgeting is boring cause you never looked at it as a means of bringing change in you, doing something that makes you happy and satisfied or you haven’t yet budgeted anything and you’re just saying it cause you’re afraid to start budgeting.

It’s natural before I start something new I’m afraid but once you begin, it gets easier and more interesting (provided you take an interest in what you’re doing).

Some say budgeting on Excel sheets makes them fall asleep faster than the speed of light, people who like visually appealing things will find Excel sheets dull.

For them, I’ve created a colorful yet simple and very detailed Budget Printable that will help you seamlessly Budget. Just fill in the details and you’re off to the races.

The moment you learn to save ₹500 on groceries and learn to gift without spending at all, the joy you’ll see in yourself – that’s budgeting not being boring at its best.

Hey, don’t listen to me, try budgeting for a month and see the results, I’m sure you’ll be shocked when you see that you have three different subscriptions and you don’t even use one.

Myth #4: Delay Budgeting Until After Special Occasions

If you closely look at your calendar, you’ll see that there is some festive period all the time. Today it’s New Year’s, tomorrow it will be Christmas, then it will be your anniversary, birthday, and on and on and on.

There is no best time to start taking control of your finances. So stop saying that after this festive period, I will start cause now I want to spend all my money (not caring for my future) and then after I have no money left, I’ll start budgeting!

Sounds like a messed up plan right? You know Christmas is coming so how will you cut down on one expense and use that money for Christmas gifting, that’s what you need to think.

Example – After budgeting, you understood that spending ₹3000 on traveling each month is doable, sensible, and practical.

But now that Christmas is coming, you decide to go more strict on your expenses, reduce it down to ₹2000 for two months before Christmas. Now you have ₹1000 + ₹1000 = ₹2000 that you can use to give to others.

The best thing to do is learn how to celebrate such festivals without spending a lot. It’s not about the “Stuff” you give others, it’s about spending time and enjoying yourself with your family and friends.

It’s more about moments and laughter and less about materialistic things.

Myth #5: Only MasterChefs Need to Budget

I’m not a MasterChef either. Budgeting and living frugally don’t mean you need to cook all your meals and eating outside is prohibited.

I know a lot of people who eat most of their meals outside and still live frugally, why? Because they spend less on other things and thus can afford to spend more on food.

But I suggest you learn to cook. It’s a great skill to have and it’s not even difficult to master. Pick out your favorite ingredients, Google it, and find a recipe that sings I Love

The Way I Cook, loud and clear. Watch YouTube videos to see how others cook, how they cut veggies, play with spices, and a lot more.

Food is an important part of your day, and it’s costly. By checking out online meal prep plans, you can save loads of money and time.

A few simple recipes that taste scrumptious aren’t that difficult once you start cooking. Plan out occasional dine-outs to satisfy your cravings, don’t overdo it.

For your convenience, I’ve picked out a few food recipe bloggers.

They can help you cook awesome food! Give it some time and who knows you might end up being a MasterChef!

Myth #6: I Make Lots Of Money So I Don’t Need To Budget

What you’re saying makes complete sense, I assure you if I were you, I’d probably think the same way.

But here’s the cache, when the recession hits you, or you’re fired from the job, or your business suddenly went from millions to nothing, do you have an emergency fund to take care of you?

Do you have savings to pay off all your debts? (If you’re rich, you may have a lot of debt, I’m sure). Do you have enough for your family? If yes, for how many months can you survive without anything?

Most of the rich guys without a budget will get trapped when anyone asks them to pay off their debts because, with no income, there’s practically no legal way to pay a monthly installment.

Most delay payments for a few months, banks charge penalties for not paying on time, and voila – you’re screwed badly.

You have money right now, you don’t know if you will have money tomorrow or next week. Assuming you’re lucky and life will never betray you is a gamble I’m not willing to accept, nor should you. Budgeting is easy, accept the fact!

Myth #7: Budgeting Means Never Taking a Vacation Again

One thing that can easily turn a happy budgeting guy into hating budgeting is not being able to go on vacations.

Hey, who said budgeting means no vacations? I don’t remember saying anything like that (unless you follow a finance expert who isn’t even an expert!).

Just because you’re budgeting, it doesn’t mean you stop going on vacations. Instead, you create a separate section in your budgeting spreadsheet for vacations and put in some money each month for it.

Once the amount is equal to your estimated expenditure for the vacation, you can afford to spend on that vacation. You don’t need to make your life boring, budgeting is fun and it’s supposed to make your life more meaningful and enjoyable.

you can give others, you can do vacations, you can dine out every Friday. Just make sure you’re sticking to the rules of budgeting. If you want a plan to get started, you can try The 50-30-20 Rule of Budgeting.

I’ve written an article on How to Save Money on Vacations, it will break down many smart ways to save while on vacation. If a vacation is a priority for you, don’t miss that article.

Myth #8: My spouse loves to spend

One can see the importance of living below your means and the other can see spending all the money.

To solve this problem, you need to have some tough conversations with your spouse.

One conversation may not work, so till you both are on the same page, don’t stop because this decision will impact how your financial status will be in a few years, you don’t want to be living paycheck to paycheck so you better come to an agreement that makes both happy.

Review your goals, and understand each other’s perspectives. Slowly your spouse will see the amazing benefits of saving and budgeting.

But even after all this, if your family does not cooperate as a team, it’s up to you to take care of your finances.

Start your financial freedom journey and save money, budget your expenses, live below your means, and make extra income.

Once they see your amazing results, they too will get on board. I’m sure of that.

Myth #9: What Will the Neighbors and Relatives Think?

Who are you budgeting for? Your neighbors or yourself? What other people think of me is a standard normal people use as a defense.

You need to forget what others think and focus on what will happen if you don’t budget versus if you do budget.

Your neighbors will spend if they don’t care about their finances, but that doesn’t mean you do the same. To make a change you need to take a stand and do the things others don’t do.

Even if that means your neighbors will say things about you. It’s your choice, do you want to make your financial future a successful one? Think well, I hope you choose the right option.

Myth #10: YOLO, So Spend Uncontrollably

YOLO, You Only Live Once, is a trending acronym for Millennial use. It’s cool, it’s fun and it certainly sends out a unique meaning, that you don’t care about tomorrow and all you care about is today.

YOLO was created to give your best efforts today because today is all you have, you don’t know what can happen tomorrow.

You only live once so give your best and never give up. But like other things, once this got trendy, people confused it with spending aimlessly. Cool right!

You only live once so why live that life being broke, living paycheck to paycheck, being sad about not having enough money, and blaming others for your pitfalls?

Do your best every day to get out of debt, increase your net worth, help others, and be a better person. Why? Cause you only live once.

Myth #11: Regular Saving Eliminates the Need for a Budget

Clever you, you already do what most people are afraid to do or try hard to do. It’s great you save each month. Living below your means will let you save more for things that are valuable and important to you.

But I will have to disagree and say that you will need to have a written budget anyway.

The purpose of having a budget is not only to be frugal and live below your means, it’s also to know where you can allocate your savings and how to spend for future expenses.

This can be putting some money towards retirement and accumulating money for your vacation.

A budget helps you see how much money you can allocate towards vacation and still not go broke, have sufficient in your emergency fund, and contribute the minimum to your retirement.

Your Budget can also point out other things that you include that help you map out a winning strategy.

The primary goal of budgeting is to save money and life frugally but the secondary goal is to understand how your money flows and reconfigure it to flow exactly where you want it to flow.

Start with simple budgeting and in time try to break it down to suit your needs.

Myth #12: Budgeting Requires Complex Math Skills

Budgeting and maths can’t even be compared. Making a budget requires very little math skills and a lot of logical thinking skills. You only need to know additional, subtraction, multiplication, and division – the basics.

But if that’s too much for you, you can use budgeting apps to track your expenses and income. I still prefer a paper-written budgeting worksheet but if that’s something a bit too hectic for you, budgeting apps do an amazing job, go with it.

Alternatively, you can use Excel spreadsheets to budget, put in the necessary formulas, which can happen in a click, and start filling it up with your expenses. It’s that easy and I’m sure this method didn’t include maths at all.

Budgeting involves second-grade maths, so instead of hating maths, start hating debt and all your financial problems, soon you’ll find a way out of it!

Sage Tip – You can use a calculator to do all your calculations, so you don’t need to apply addition and other maths stuff to get your budget in place.

If you can count on your fingers, you can Budget.

Myth #13: No Time to Budget, It’s Too Complicated

You’re busy, you don’t have the time to budget; do you have the time to watch the latest season of The Blacklist or rewatch Friends or The Big Bang Theory on Netflix?

If you have time to do this, I know for a fact, that you have time to budget, you just don’t want to. You’re not busy, you’re lazy.

Let me remind you, you’re not budgeting for me, you’re doing it for yourself, for your future, so that you have a better financial future, once where money will never be a problem for you and your family.

It’s true when you start budgeting, you will take a few hours but after a few months, budgeting will be quick and easy. You’re simply putting in the numbers and letting math do its work.

Budgeting Myths – It’s Your Financial Future

You can give all the excuses you want and believe in numerous crazy myths, but that won’t change your financial condition.

If you’re broke right now, believing that good times will come is optimistic, but not doing anything about it is dumb!

Take action, and do the things necessary to get the results you want, after all, that’s what’s going to make the change you so desire.

I’ve seen people buying 5 pairs of branded shoes, and giving expensive things to others even when their financial status is bad, why?

To show others that they aren’t broke, to show they are rich as long as the sun rises every day. A budget will help you decide where your money goes and how it works for you.

Everyone needs a Budget. Most people don’t make one because of fear and laziness.

You have the power to change your financial future, all you need to do is take the first step towards abundant success.

If your friends say you can’t do it, that just means they don’t believe in you or want you to fail. Do you want you to fail?

Take charge of your life and change your life, you won’t regret it! I know you won’t!

What budgeting myths have you heard of? Let’s debunk it together in the comments, shall we?

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13 Budgeting Myths You Can’t Afford To Believe