Learn Valuable Budgeting Principles

Sticking to you budget can seem almost impossible, especially when you are not familiar with budgeting principles. Your struggles might amount to clinging to a treadmill while the speed is slowly increased until you finally crash. The inability to stick to budgeting will keep you on that roller coaster--the up and down--of financial mediocrity. When you do fall off that treadmill (and you will) having budgeting principles will enable you to quickly recover.

You were probably budgeting well until you had a slip. Too many movies one month, under-budgeting for groceries or some other impulse buy. Breaking the rules is devastating (leaving you feeling guilty) and you might think it is impossible to start over again.

To know the difference between budgeting rules and budgeting principles is important for your morale.

Principles are life creeds that are deeply seeded within you, while rules are lists of things you must follow. When things go awry, budgeting principles are positive and motivate you into action, while rules are put in place to keep to keep you from doing something; if you break the rule you are bad. Budgeting rules are broken because they are just too difficult to stick to on a daily basis, and the guilt stinks. It is like a dog that is whipped for going potty on the carpet. Budgeting principles enforce positive financial decisions that help you to stick to budgeting. While there are certain times when rules are effective (avoiding drug relapse or required military discipline), principles are truly the way to go.

Here are some simple principles I discuss in detail in my book.

- Budgeting needs to be a big part of your life.
- Expense tracking should be simple.
- Look at your budget (your financial mirror) every day.

For more information on budgeting principles, visit my website and consider ordering my book The Budget of Your Life. The book highlights my struggle with paying down $60k in debt in just a couple of short years.