Cut your money worries
August 21, 2009 by Jennifer Chait
Filed under budget
Cutting your money worries can be tough. Especially in the current economy. Some of us do have major money worries – maybe we’ve been laid off or had hours cut. Maybe we shop too much or gamble. However, even people without actual hardcore money worries do spend time worrying about cash flow. With some of the following ideas you can cut your money worries and maybe sleep a little better at night.
First two extremes – don’t budget the checkbook OR budget to an excess. I’m a budget to an excess type. I have to know where every single penny is at all times or I flip out. There are pros to this method. Budgeting and balancing allow you to see where your money is at all times. This is a big deal. It can seriously ease money worries to know, “I have so and so amount in the bank, which is or is not enough to cover the expenses. If it’s not enough, you can map out a plan and if it is, well, you just feel better. There are also cons (time intensive).
Now my friend who never budgets his checkbook (which I’m sorry I cannot get on board with) says, “When I budget and balance the checkbook I worry more than when I have no clue what’s in my checkbook” – so maybe it’s an out of site out of mind peace of mind, but being the extreme checkbook balance freak that I am, I just don’t get it. So I probed further. WHAT exactly makes this a worry free option?
My friend says, “Because I’m not worried that I won’t have enough money…. I start to worry about the little things, like can I afford a cup of coffee in the morning, can I afford a snack…” Keep in mind that my pal also says, “It’s not a responsible thing to handle the budget this way, you could run out of money… you might not have enough to pay the bills, but all in all I don’t worry about what I don’t have..” So, in my friend’s case, not looking at the checkbook (hardly ever) affords him the luxury of not thinking about it, not worrying about it.
Those are the two extremes. I’ve heard from plenty on both sides. Some who balance and follow a strict budget and others who don’t do either. However, the one thing these folks have in common is that they’re all worrying less than people with no method whatsoever.
For more tips read how to worry less about money.
[image via stock.xchng]
