In our last blog, you likely saw yourself in one of our money personality profiles. Were you a…
- Giver?
- Keeper?
- Money-Maker?
- Perfectionist?
We talked about how each of these personalities might handle the thought of budgeting. Now let’s discuss how each of these women might effectively put together a spending plan.
Giver
To recap, givers might put off crafting a spending plan because you are too busy with your commitments to other people. As a Giver, you should think of a spending plan as a gift you can give to those you love and charities you support. If you can shift your mindset from “budgets are restrictive” to “this is an opportunity to help others” the task may seem a bit easier.
Keeper
As a keeper, you’re crushing it as a saver and because you have a hard time not saving, you may think you don’t need a spending plan. But keeping too much does not lead to a balanced life. The Keeper needs to add a category or two for items or activities that bring you joy. An exercise I like to use with clients is to picture what you would do if money were truly no object (like you just won that billion-dollar lottery). Whatever comes to mind should be part of your spending plan, in whatever way possible, even if it is small.
Merry-Maker
Who needs a budget? Life is short! Sorry, but as a Merry-Maker you likely need the most assistance with a spending plan. While living for the moment has its place, crafting a spending plan can actually bring you MORE joy than a devil-may-care attitude. How? By eliminating that nagging guilt that you often feel, or fear that you are not saving enough.
Take a look at what purchases of yours are the most impulsive and set aside a small percentage of your income to those. Don’t try to completely eliminate them (“No more shopping ever!”) because that is not realistic. By creating a pot of money to spend on what makes you happy, you give yourself permission to enjoy life AND be responsible.
Perfectionist
You’re doing everything right, so creating a spending plan is a little different in your case. You don’t need a ton of help with creating a spending plan, but you do need to keep in mind that it is a guide. No one in the history of money has ever hit their spending plan exactly. Things come up!
A trick that can help the perfectionist is to set a percentage that your budget is allowed to “drift.” By allowing line items to vary by your plan by, say, 10% you are giving yourself the freedom to relax, because technically you are still within your budget. At the end of the month or quarter, determine if the drift was a one-time event or if your spending plan needs to be permanently adjusted.
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