{GUEST POST} Budgets are Beautiful

Well, hello, you. 

Though we have never met I know we’d like each other. I love a great bargain, good food and my job. I laugh really loudly and love generously. 

But there’s a small problem with my job. Folks don’t understand, or even really like, what I do. You see, I’m a financial advisor. And I LOVE what I do. So important is finance to you that I’d roll the subject in chocolate sauce and slather jimmies on it if it would make you take a little bite of financial knowledge every once in a while. Cause, just like GI Joe says, knowing’s half the battle.

So, here’s a small tidbit for you that hopefully won’t feel like a poke in the eye. Let’s talk budget. 

MONEY AND FRENCH PURSES

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Sounds like a great combination of topics, right? Well actually, money and French purses have a lot in common as the origin of the dreaded word budget comes from the old French word for purse. Et voila!

And what is a budget? A budget is an action plan for your money. It’s looking every dollar in the eye and saying, ’Where do you think you’re going?’ You, master of your domain. It’s a beautiful thing. 

And just like there are many styles of purses, there are many types of budgets: simplified, detailed, paper or electronic, even budgets for planning a certain event like a wedding or your summer vacation. 

A budget is like adopting a healthy lifestyle. And that involves finding the right mix for you and your family of healthy eating and exercise you enjoy and may take a bit of experimenting. Similarly, there is some trial and error in finding the style of budget that works for your learning style. 

It took me a long time, even as a trained professional, to find a budget that really clicked with the way I think. 

So, let me reintroduce you to the wonderful world of your money’s action plan, and the delicious world of the budget. Simply scrumptious. 

THE ACTION PLAN 

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#1. Figure what you have as income from all sources. I want you to write this down so it’s clear in your wonderful mind.

#2. Note all monthly expenses. The obvious goal? Making expenses less than income. {Insert smiley face here}

#3. You can now make adjustments. You are in control. Do not become overwhelmed when you look at those pesky expenses.

#4. Break the expenses down into two categories: fixed {expenses which are the same each month} and variable {those expenses that vary from month to month based, perhaps, on the consumption of adult beverages and multiple visits to pretty local shops}…

#5. It is at this point that we forget French purses and lose our marbles. Look at me! You can do this, chickadee, and this lovely pile o’ bills can be tackled successfully, and without winning the lottery.

I know you’re up to the determined effort this will take! You are so freaking able to be responsibly in charge of your money! Knowing IS half the battle. And the other half is doing excellent and careful managing, seeing your plan through month by month, and then living happily ever after in the land of awesomeness.  

Marion  Syversen, MBA, owns Norumbega Financial. She appears every Tuesday on WABI-TV5, Bangor, Maine’s CBS affiliate. She is the author of Real Deal: Making Big Changes with Small Change available on Amazon.com. Read her weekly blog at FinanceWithChocolateSauce.com. Send questions or feedback to Marion@norumbegafinancial.com or visit her website at www.NorumbegaFinancial.com. 

Only securities and advisory services offered through Wall Street Financial Group, Inc. Registered Investment Advisor. Member FINRA/SIPC. Wall Street Financial Group, Inc., Norumbega Financial and all other entities listed herein are separate entities, independently owned and operated. Information herein is the opinion of the author and not that of Wall Street Financial Group, Inc.