Back in December I wrote about making a go of our budget. Well… it didn’t happen. Budgets are just hard for me to stick to, which in some ways is kind of ironic because I’m a numbers kind of guy. I just like keeping track of things, except when it comes to a budget.

Well, after teaching our son about budgeting, I decided to pull up the spreadsheet that I originally did for our budget and brush off the dust and take a look at it. Part of me felt bad because here I am teaching my son about it, but not doing it myself.

So today while I was bored at work I decided to update it just a bit and my wife and I talked about getting back to it. It will certainly take some discipline, which is hard for me, but I know we can do it. Part of the problem may be that we aren’t really hurting for money but we don’t save enough either or manage what we have. It is nice that if we want something we can pretty much just go and get it. Not anything mind you, but if we want to go out to eat, or go pick up something for the house, etc. Naturally all those little expenditures add up. So with a little work we are going to try again.

The question then is how to stick with it. A big issue is motivation, and perhaps the motivational tricks from our money jar will help. You know, seeing it work becomes its own motivation.

What tips do you have for sticking your budget?

budgeting, goals, Personal Finance