WEBVTT - You Need to Create a Budget #002 0:00:00.080 --> 0:00:02.800 Welcome to How to Money. I'm Joel and I'm At 0:00:02.880 --> 0:00:05.480 and today we're talking about why you need to create 0:00:05.519 --> 0:00:20.800 a budget. So Joel, today we're gonna talk about budgets. 0:00:20.800 --> 0:00:22.920 We're gonna We're gonna talk about how you and I 0:00:23.000 --> 0:00:27.200 have slightly different approaches to to budgeting. Slightly different or 0:00:27.320 --> 0:00:29.920 very different. I'm not sure we'll find out. I think 0:00:30.040 --> 0:00:33.080 I think we do have pretty different takes on budgets, 0:00:33.200 --> 0:00:35.720 and so I think it's really interesting getting into it, 0:00:35.800 --> 0:00:39.160 and hopefully a lot of takeaway from people who are 0:00:39.440 --> 0:00:42.920 frightened the budgets or you know, really want to do 0:00:43.000 --> 0:00:45.360 a budget. I think this podcast is going to kind 0:00:45.360 --> 0:00:47.560 of help people sort through those issues. Yeah, I feel 0:00:47.560 --> 0:00:49.280 like that's one of the good things we've got going 0:00:49.360 --> 0:00:52.440 for us. We like similar things, but we're very different dudes. 0:00:52.960 --> 0:00:55.520 We have a lot of same end goals in mind, 0:00:55.560 --> 0:00:58.800 I think, but our means of getting there often differs 0:00:59.120 --> 0:01:03.360 great a different buddy, which is why I think it's awesome. 0:01:03.440 --> 0:01:05.480 I'm kind of more go with your go with your gut, 0:01:06.400 --> 0:01:10.080 and you're definitely more planned out. Let's put every I'm 0:01:10.120 --> 0:01:12.840 the numbers guy. You're like Excel spreadsheet to the max. 0:01:12.880 --> 0:01:16.280 Empirical data. Give it to me, that's right. Uh. And 0:01:16.319 --> 0:01:19.080 as always on the Porn Poor podcast, we crack a 0:01:19.120 --> 0:01:24.520 beer every time and today, Matt, you got you picked 0:01:24.600 --> 0:01:28.000 up the beer today and what are we drinking? This 0:01:28.120 --> 0:01:32.600 is tweak, a stout with coffee. It's aged and bourbon barrels. 0:01:33.160 --> 0:01:36.040 I had this a few years ago. Oh, you were 0:01:36.040 --> 0:01:37.880 actually over at our house and I give you a sip, right, 0:01:38.440 --> 0:01:40.600 I saved some for you. Yeah, that's that's when you 0:01:40.600 --> 0:01:42.280 first had it. So my brother in law got this 0:01:42.319 --> 0:01:44.560 for me one Christmas. You got me a six pack 0:01:44.600 --> 0:01:46.560 of a bunch of different beers that we don't get 0:01:46.600 --> 0:01:49.640 here in Georgia. With this being a higher a BV. 0:01:49.800 --> 0:01:52.520 This is a six beer, so yeah, we get every 0:01:52.560 --> 0:01:56.000 beers here, but we don't get the big time stouts 0:01:56.000 --> 0:01:57.600 that they make because they're big time stouts could go 0:01:57.680 --> 0:01:59.720 up to eighteen percent, and so this one's at sixteen. 0:01:59.760 --> 0:02:02.200 And Georgia the cap on a b V is fourteen, 0:02:02.240 --> 0:02:04.240 so we don't get these big stouts here. But this 0:02:04.280 --> 0:02:06.440 is Yeah, it's fantastic. Excited to have this again. It's 0:02:06.480 --> 0:02:08.639 been it's been a while since since I've had this one. 0:02:09.120 --> 0:02:10.720 So Matt's Poor and the beer right now. At the 0:02:10.800 --> 0:02:12.480 end of the podcast, as always, will give you kind 0:02:12.480 --> 0:02:14.200 of our tasting notes what we think about the beer. 0:02:15.040 --> 0:02:18.000 And this is, if I remember correctly, one of my 0:02:18.040 --> 0:02:20.120 favorite stouts of all time. I'm pretty pumped to be 0:02:20.120 --> 0:02:22.400 having it again. We'll give you our tasting notes in 0:02:22.400 --> 0:02:24.400 just a little bit. I did make it out to 0:02:24.440 --> 0:02:27.679 the Avery Brewing Company, I guess about a year and 0:02:27.720 --> 0:02:31.080 a half ago. It was absolutely beautiful. The beers were 0:02:32.040 --> 0:02:35.799 there in Colorado, uh outside of Boulder, obviously in Colorado, 0:02:36.080 --> 0:02:38.320 just outside of Boulder, I think, And oh my goodness, 0:02:38.560 --> 0:02:41.440 their facilities amazing. They make some amazing so hours. Oh so, 0:02:41.520 --> 0:02:49.000 by the way, Matt Avery just last month sold of 0:02:49.040 --> 0:02:50.919 their brewery. And this is a hot topic and craft beer. 0:02:50.960 --> 0:02:53.720 We're both in the craft beer in a huge way. 0:02:53.760 --> 0:02:57.040 But breweries are selling out. It seems like almost every 0:02:57.040 --> 0:02:59.760 other week you hear a report of a brewery selling 0:02:59.800 --> 0:03:02.560 part their steak or their whole brewery to a big conglomerate. 0:03:02.760 --> 0:03:06.080 And Avery just soldt to a Spanish company. How do 0:03:06.120 --> 0:03:10.679 you feel about craft breweries that are selling parts or 0:03:10.720 --> 0:03:14.040 their whole business to other companies, and especially like I guess, 0:03:14.040 --> 0:03:16.679 the big one was wicked weeds. Telling to Budweiser that 0:03:16.680 --> 0:03:19.280 that kind of stuff scared scares the craft that was 0:03:19.360 --> 0:03:21.520 kind of big. I mean, I don't know, man. My 0:03:21.639 --> 0:03:26.560 question is is the beer gonna taste different? Yeah it is? 0:03:26.960 --> 0:03:28.480 Well no, no, no no, I'm not saying is. I'm saying 0:03:28.480 --> 0:03:31.040 that's a big question, because then yes, then I have 0:03:31.080 --> 0:03:33.520 a problem with that, right. You know, these are companies 0:03:33.520 --> 0:03:36.280 where they've been working hard over years and sometimes decades 0:03:36.360 --> 0:03:41.280 to make something fantastic, and as the owners, my natural 0:03:41.280 --> 0:03:43.520 tendency is to think that oh, if you own it, 0:03:43.920 --> 0:03:45.720 this is something you've worked for, is something you built, 0:03:45.720 --> 0:03:47.920 and if you want to sell a portion of it, 0:03:48.120 --> 0:03:50.360 and especially it means you said the only sold thirty percent, 0:03:51.000 --> 0:03:56.120 I mean they're obviously maintaining control over the company. And 0:03:56.160 --> 0:03:58.160 I think there's a big difference in the way that 0:03:58.280 --> 0:04:01.880 a company sells, and it's especially in craft beer. And 0:04:01.920 --> 0:04:03.640 we'll get to the topic at hand budgets in just 0:04:03.680 --> 0:04:07.080 a second. I think it in craft beer, the way 0:04:07.120 --> 0:04:09.880 you sell makes such a big difference because if it's 0:04:10.560 --> 0:04:14.200 a Spanish company and kind of keeping similar structure and 0:04:14.600 --> 0:04:18.000 the same brewers in place, all that stuff, keeping the 0:04:18.040 --> 0:04:20.960 same mindset and company culture. For instance, like I think 0:04:20.960 --> 0:04:25.120 when Heineken bought Lagunitas, they kind of wanted to everyone 0:04:25.160 --> 0:04:27.760 to kind of remain in place, and you know, status quota, continue, 0:04:28.400 --> 0:04:31.760 change of management, changing capital. Yeah it's under a new name. 0:04:31.800 --> 0:04:34.360 But but with something like wickul Weed sells a percent 0:04:34.400 --> 0:04:38.120 of Budweiser that people start to wonder, Okay, well you 0:04:38.200 --> 0:04:41.599 also you kind of sold to the people that they 0:04:41.640 --> 0:04:46.120 want to stamp out craft beer, you know, so it's 0:04:46.160 --> 0:04:48.000 as seen as articles. Yeah, so it's I think it's 0:04:48.040 --> 0:04:51.200 that kind of thing um And I don't think we 0:04:51.279 --> 0:04:53.480 know what the overall effects is going to be, but 0:04:53.560 --> 0:04:55.120 it's just interesting that a lot more of those are 0:04:55.120 --> 0:04:57.000 things are happening in the craft beer world. And if 0:04:57.040 --> 0:04:59.960 you're super into craft beer, you do care if you're 0:05:00.000 --> 0:05:02.560 brewery sells a steak, If your local brewer right down 0:05:02.560 --> 0:05:06.320 the street from you sells steak or sells out to 0:05:06.320 --> 0:05:10.359 another company, it could affect the quality and and that 0:05:10.360 --> 0:05:13.400 would absolutely be a bummer, right Yeah, But fortunately for us, 0:05:13.440 --> 0:05:15.120 I guess there's and just how it affects the industry 0:05:15.120 --> 0:05:17.200 as a whole, I guess as well. It's something it's 0:05:17.200 --> 0:05:19.919 sorry for me sometimes to think beyond the immediate What 0:05:20.040 --> 0:05:22.559 is this due to the beer, right, and if it's fine, 0:05:22.680 --> 0:05:26.440 then maybe it's gonna be okay. But I remember reading 0:05:26.480 --> 0:05:28.559 some on that and just how it affects the craft 0:05:28.600 --> 0:05:30.760 beer industry as a whole and what some of the 0:05:31.080 --> 0:05:33.200 big brewers are trying to do so well, a lot 0:05:33.240 --> 0:05:35.360 of it comes down to tap space and shelf space, 0:05:36.120 --> 0:05:39.479 and if you've got the big money, you contributors, you 0:05:39.520 --> 0:05:42.000 can buy shelf space and tap space and we don't 0:05:42.040 --> 0:05:43.520 have to get in all the nuances. But it it 0:05:43.640 --> 0:05:46.200 does that kind of stuff, it affects that stuff in 0:05:46.200 --> 0:05:49.840 the bottom line for everybody involved. So cheers, tweak, let's 0:05:49.880 --> 0:05:53.880 drink smells so good? All right, We'll get to tasting 0:05:53.880 --> 0:05:56.760 notes later on, but so fights it to say at 0:05:56.760 --> 0:06:01.520 this point that's real good. This is fantastic. That warms 0:06:01.520 --> 0:06:04.160 you up like your drinking bourbon too. It's just perfectly balanced. 0:06:04.640 --> 0:06:06.920 We'll talk more about this later, all right, Matt, moving 0:06:06.920 --> 0:06:10.360 on to the topic at hand today, budgets, and for 0:06:10.400 --> 0:06:13.400 a lot of people that's a really scary word. So 0:06:13.640 --> 0:06:17.640 let's kind of define it and talk about why maybe 0:06:17.640 --> 0:06:21.720 it's not as frightening as it initially sounds. Yeah, man, absolutely, 0:06:21.760 --> 0:06:25.760 so to me, a budget is just us deciding, like 0:06:25.760 --> 0:06:28.440 where we're going to spend the money before you actually 0:06:28.520 --> 0:06:32.320 spend it. Right, It's not some sort of list of 0:06:32.400 --> 0:06:36.440 rules that you have to follow or abide by or 0:06:36.520 --> 0:06:39.800 you swear to. It's just having a plan. That's the 0:06:39.800 --> 0:06:42.200 easiest way to describe it. It's saying that this is 0:06:42.200 --> 0:06:44.240 how much income I'm going to half of the month. 0:06:44.320 --> 0:06:47.480 It's listing out your expenses. It's deciding where you're going 0:06:47.520 --> 0:06:49.960 to spend that money and then just sticking to it. 0:06:49.960 --> 0:06:51.880 It's just I mean literally, it's just a plan you 0:06:52.240 --> 0:06:54.200 and you get to decide that plan, right. It's not 0:06:54.240 --> 0:06:56.880 like somebody else is gonna say, oh no, you must 0:06:56.880 --> 0:07:00.600 do it this way. Certainly, there's tactics and ways and 0:07:00.680 --> 0:07:02.840 approaches to creating a budget, but when it comes to 0:07:02.960 --> 0:07:05.800 the actual amounts within the budget and you in your 0:07:05.839 --> 0:07:09.480 different categories, you're gonna put your dollars on the things 0:07:09.520 --> 0:07:11.960 that you value. That's what That's what makes it yours 0:07:11.960 --> 0:07:14.160 as well. So what would you say to someone that 0:07:14.240 --> 0:07:18.560 thinks that a budget is limiting. No, a budget is 0:07:18.600 --> 0:07:22.560 not limiting per se. You're not sort of keeping yourself 0:07:22.560 --> 0:07:24.480 from doing things unless that's what you want to do. 0:07:24.920 --> 0:07:28.520 You're deciding now what you're gonna do down the down 0:07:28.520 --> 0:07:30.400 the road and in the in the weeks to come 0:07:30.600 --> 0:07:33.040 in that month. And so if you know at the 0:07:33.040 --> 0:07:34.840 beginning of the month that like, oh, it's I'm gonna 0:07:34.840 --> 0:07:38.240 want to do these other things because I can't. I'm 0:07:38.240 --> 0:07:40.720 not gonna behave and I'm gonna spend my money as 0:07:40.760 --> 0:07:42.520 soon as I get it, well, it's good at the 0:07:42.520 --> 0:07:44.880 beginning of the month to sit down and think ahead 0:07:44.920 --> 0:07:47.440 a little bit. Really, all it is is just thinking 0:07:47.480 --> 0:07:50.800 ahead and making a plan. Yeah. I think most people 0:07:50.840 --> 0:07:55.520 think that a budget is about depriving yourself, so you 0:07:55.880 --> 0:07:58.360 spend as little money as possible and you allocated to 0:07:58.440 --> 0:08:02.160 the right places. But really, when it comes down to it, 0:08:02.680 --> 0:08:07.120 you're living a water and gruel lifestyle to try to 0:08:07.160 --> 0:08:10.600 skip by because that's what it takes. That's what budgeting is. 0:08:10.640 --> 0:08:13.360 It's it's that sort of a process. It's a it's 0:08:13.360 --> 0:08:16.320 a slog and I think that's probably where people get 0:08:16.360 --> 0:08:18.720 bogged down. Initially. I don't want to do a budget 0:08:18.760 --> 0:08:20.800 because it means it's gonna restrict me in all these ways. 0:08:21.280 --> 0:08:23.440 I want to be able to go out and eat right. Yeah, 0:08:23.480 --> 0:08:24.760 folks are like, well, I still want to go and 0:08:24.800 --> 0:08:28.120 get my nails done, or whatever arguments there are against it. 0:08:29.360 --> 0:08:31.480 That's what keeps people, I think a lot of times right, 0:08:31.520 --> 0:08:34.120 that's what keeps people totally from from doing it. And 0:08:34.120 --> 0:08:37.200 in the trick is I guess that you you have 0:08:37.240 --> 0:08:39.440 to prioritize those things, and some of those things you 0:08:39.520 --> 0:08:42.120 will have to cut back if you want to meet 0:08:42.240 --> 0:08:45.000 other goals that you have. So you have to make 0:08:45.040 --> 0:08:49.400 decisions sometimes now in the short term that will impact 0:08:49.400 --> 0:08:53.320 your long term budget, and so it might take cutting 0:08:53.320 --> 0:08:55.840 back on certain things that you deem not as important 0:08:56.679 --> 0:09:00.600 in the immediate in order to achieve that long term success. 0:09:00.760 --> 0:09:03.840 If you want to take a trip next year to Europe, 0:09:04.400 --> 0:09:07.360 you can start budgeting for that, start saving now absolutely, 0:09:07.440 --> 0:09:11.560 as opposed to the typical finances sort of model is 0:09:12.080 --> 0:09:13.960 don't plan ahead, you do it when you want, and 0:09:13.960 --> 0:09:15.600 then you end up paying for it after the fact. 0:09:15.679 --> 0:09:18.080 But what are you you also paying for after the 0:09:18.120 --> 0:09:21.360 fact if you've financed it, you're paying for financing, you're 0:09:21.360 --> 0:09:24.040 paying interest. Yeah, you're paying interest on it as opposed 0:09:24.080 --> 0:09:26.800 to saving ahead of time. So it's it's almost like 0:09:26.840 --> 0:09:31.120 a reverse payment program. Instead of paying a bank or 0:09:31.160 --> 0:09:33.560 a lender. After the fact, you're you're just saving up 0:09:33.559 --> 0:09:36.480 and paying yourself ahead of time. I think one of 0:09:36.520 --> 0:09:40.720 the most difficult aspects of budgeting for me sometimes is 0:09:41.160 --> 0:09:44.360 I forget to make it personal. And I think that 0:09:44.400 --> 0:09:47.199 when it comes down to it, I'm better at budgeting 0:09:47.960 --> 0:09:51.840 when I truly make it personal to what I need. 0:09:52.040 --> 0:09:54.800 And sometimes I guess we all do this. We begin 0:09:54.840 --> 0:09:56.600 to think, well, this is what everyone else is doing, 0:09:56.720 --> 0:09:59.240 or this is this is what my budget should look like. 0:10:00.120 --> 0:10:01.720 But really you have to make it personal. And if 0:10:01.720 --> 0:10:04.160 you want to drop four thousand dollars a year on travel, 0:10:04.640 --> 0:10:07.400 you can do that, but you just need to budget 0:10:07.480 --> 0:10:09.680 for it. Just put it on there the every month 0:10:09.720 --> 0:10:11.760 that you're gonna set aside. However, many you know four 0:10:11.800 --> 0:10:14.680 thousand about about by twelve months, and now you know that, 0:10:14.760 --> 0:10:16.560 like every month, we need to set aside this much 0:10:16.600 --> 0:10:19.640 money towards that one trip at the end of the year, 0:10:19.720 --> 0:10:21.959 or for the two trips that we have. If it's 0:10:21.960 --> 0:10:23.920 a priority for you, man make it happen. It's just 0:10:23.960 --> 0:10:27.960 about making those decisions before they happen. That way, you 0:10:28.040 --> 0:10:30.920 have time to prepare for it. So do you always 0:10:30.960 --> 0:10:34.000 budget so like before and well, specific to before you 0:10:34.000 --> 0:10:36.440 and Emily got married, did you budget when back when 0:10:36.480 --> 0:10:39.640 you're single? No, I didn't budget, and I'll tell you why. 0:10:40.120 --> 0:10:42.960 And and Emily and I've had a difficult time at 0:10:43.000 --> 0:10:45.840 times trying to figure out budgeting in our marriage because 0:10:46.679 --> 0:10:48.520 I do have a kind of this like mental roadblock, 0:10:48.520 --> 0:10:51.520 aversion to budgeting, and part of it is and I 0:10:51.559 --> 0:10:53.600 wrote an article actually a few years back on my 0:10:53.840 --> 0:10:57.440 personal blog about why I didn't budget. And I think 0:10:57.440 --> 0:11:00.920 it's okay for some people at different times in life 0:11:01.679 --> 0:11:04.360 to not have to budget, but not for most people, 0:11:04.720 --> 0:11:06.800 only for a few And the reason I think it 0:11:06.840 --> 0:11:10.000 works for me is because I was so frugal. I 0:11:10.120 --> 0:11:13.960 was so into not spending money for quite a long 0:11:14.000 --> 0:11:16.360 period of time, and I liked seeing my balance grow 0:11:16.400 --> 0:11:20.760 every month. I just didn't really buy needless things, and 0:11:20.760 --> 0:11:22.800 in lifestyle creep wasn't really a factor for me at 0:11:22.840 --> 0:11:25.079 that point in time. You're you're living so cheap that 0:11:25.600 --> 0:11:28.360 making a budget for you maybe wasn't the wisest used 0:11:28.400 --> 0:11:30.480 to your time, because it's fine you were, you were 0:11:30.480 --> 0:11:33.240 spending nothing on everything, right, And I felt like, I 0:11:33.240 --> 0:11:34.880 think at that point in time, I was probably like 0:11:34.920 --> 0:11:38.320 working more hours and so less time to spend and 0:11:38.360 --> 0:11:41.240 I was just really kind of focused on building something. 0:11:42.000 --> 0:11:44.160 I see the need for a budget in our lives 0:11:44.720 --> 0:11:47.760 more now than I have in quite some time. And 0:11:47.840 --> 0:11:49.960 so this actually, this next year, it's gonna be really 0:11:49.960 --> 0:11:52.760 big focus for us to actually kind of adopt a 0:11:52.800 --> 0:11:55.640 budget again and try to because we have a goal 0:11:55.679 --> 0:11:59.120 in mind. Because actually, and here's the goal. We bought 0:11:59.120 --> 0:12:01.880 a rental property recently, and we did take out a 0:12:01.920 --> 0:12:04.680 small portion of our home equity loan UH in order 0:12:04.720 --> 0:12:08.680 to put down to get this rental property. And so 0:12:09.080 --> 0:12:13.040 we want to pay that off in months. Yeah, we 0:12:13.040 --> 0:12:15.480 want to pay that off quickly, and I gotta have 0:12:15.480 --> 0:12:17.600 a plan if you want to do that, do that exactly. Yeah, 0:12:17.640 --> 0:12:20.280 And so we're like, we're not terribly uncomfortable with it 0:12:20.320 --> 0:12:22.120 being there, but we'd rather get rid of it. And 0:12:22.160 --> 0:12:24.400 the only way for us to do that, well, I think, 0:12:24.520 --> 0:12:26.960 is to budget for the first six eight months, get 0:12:26.960 --> 0:12:29.320 back into it, pay it off quickly, and then you 0:12:29.360 --> 0:12:30.920 know what, I think that that that we're just in 0:12:31.000 --> 0:12:32.800 a phase where we're gonna be budgeting for a while. 0:12:33.240 --> 0:12:35.240 But then maybe at some point we'll be in another 0:12:35.280 --> 0:12:37.720 phase of life where we don't feel the strong need 0:12:37.800 --> 0:12:42.720 to budget and sit down every week or month and 0:12:42.800 --> 0:12:44.480 do that. But we are in a phase in life 0:12:44.480 --> 0:12:46.960 where we're getting back into that and we're really excited 0:12:47.000 --> 0:12:49.480 to get back into it. Yeah. I think the biggest 0:12:49.520 --> 0:12:53.199 thing with that is especially if you have a partner, 0:12:54.040 --> 0:12:56.319 especially if you have a wife. And this is where 0:12:56.320 --> 0:12:58.560 it came down for me and Emily, where budgeting actually 0:12:58.559 --> 0:13:01.040 really begin to help us get on the same page 0:13:01.040 --> 0:13:03.600 about money, was that I was so frugal and she 0:13:03.640 --> 0:13:06.439 would feel bad if she spent money, even though like 0:13:06.559 --> 0:13:09.240 I didn't want her to feel bad. I didn't want 0:13:09.280 --> 0:13:11.800 her not to be free to make that decision to 0:13:12.360 --> 0:13:15.280 buy something, but because of my mindset and her knowing 0:13:15.400 --> 0:13:19.080 my mindset about money, she felt uncomfortable making that spend, 0:13:19.400 --> 0:13:23.400 buying that item of clothing or going out to eat. 0:13:23.440 --> 0:13:26.320 It was always kind of, well, should we go to 0:13:26.880 --> 0:13:29.200 the restaurant that's where we're only going to spend like 0:13:29.280 --> 0:13:31.079 forty bucks or is it okay if we go to 0:13:31.120 --> 0:13:33.600 the restaurant, we're gonna drop seventy five dollars tonight. And 0:13:33.679 --> 0:13:36.000 because it wasn't down on paper and it wasn't something 0:13:36.000 --> 0:13:39.840 that we discussed, it was this thing that we just 0:13:40.000 --> 0:13:43.600 didn't talk about and it was this unsaid like difficulty 0:13:43.720 --> 0:13:45.839 in our marriage. And so that's where budgeting for us 0:13:45.840 --> 0:13:48.040 really comes out. If it was just me, I could 0:13:48.040 --> 0:13:51.800 get by without a budget, but because it involves my 0:13:51.840 --> 0:13:54.880 wife and feelings and how we process things together, it's 0:13:54.920 --> 0:13:58.160 really really helpful for us to be on the same page. Yeah, 0:13:58.240 --> 0:14:01.880 for us, it was didn't want to do it at all, 0:14:01.920 --> 0:14:03.600 Like she she saw it sort of like we talked 0:14:03.600 --> 0:14:06.520 about initially, where it was this thing where we're gonna 0:14:06.600 --> 0:14:10.439 be enslaved to the numbers and whatever, whatever the charts 0:14:10.520 --> 0:14:12.120 or whatever the numbers say, that that's what we have 0:14:12.200 --> 0:14:14.480 to do. So after talking with her about it and 0:14:14.559 --> 0:14:18.160 learning what it really is, she saw basically the freedom 0:14:18.160 --> 0:14:20.200 in that. And so she saw that, Okay, at the 0:14:20.200 --> 0:14:21.720 beginning of the month, we're both going to talk about 0:14:21.760 --> 0:14:24.240 this and we're gonna decide together what we're going to 0:14:24.320 --> 0:14:26.960 spend on whatever it's going to be, say, you know, 0:14:27.000 --> 0:14:30.040 going out to eat. Well, then once you've decided what 0:14:30.080 --> 0:14:32.720 that number is, like we have to I mean, and 0:14:33.080 --> 0:14:34.720 this is how we approached it, was that you we 0:14:34.760 --> 0:14:36.760 had to spend that money because we've decided that's what 0:14:36.760 --> 0:14:39.240 we're gonna do, and so there was no guilt at 0:14:39.280 --> 0:14:41.680 all associated with, say, going out to eat. It was 0:14:41.720 --> 0:14:44.640 a matter of that, you know, we decided that this 0:14:44.640 --> 0:14:46.000 is what we're gonna do, so let's do it, let's 0:14:46.000 --> 0:14:49.760 have fun. And once that sort of clicked for definitely 0:14:49.800 --> 0:14:52.560 for Kate, then we were able to man totally get 0:14:52.600 --> 0:14:54.160 on the same page. She saw it as a as 0:14:54.240 --> 0:14:58.000 a a tool that sort of got rid of that guilty. 0:14:58.840 --> 0:15:00.520 Do you let things roll over or from month to 0:15:00.560 --> 0:15:03.800 month in your budget? Let's say you and Kate each 0:15:03.800 --> 0:15:06.800 have like a personal expense account and you usually have 0:15:06.800 --> 0:15:08.800 a certain amount of lotted into it where Matt can 0:15:08.840 --> 0:15:12.560 buy whatever he wants that month that's fifty bucks or under. 0:15:12.840 --> 0:15:17.280 But let's see you're saving up for something that's do 0:15:17.280 --> 0:15:19.640 you roll that over? How does that work in your budget? Yeah, 0:15:19.680 --> 0:15:21.880 so we actually we do. We do roll it over, 0:15:21.920 --> 0:15:24.720 so we don't have a monthly we we don't have 0:15:24.760 --> 0:15:28.040 a monthly amount where we're basically forcing ourselves to spend that. 0:15:28.080 --> 0:15:30.200 And if you don't think it's just sort of gone, 0:15:30.680 --> 0:15:32.280 that kind of goes for us. I've we've got this 0:15:32.400 --> 0:15:36.440 overly complicated budget because I'm a nerd, but where we 0:15:36.480 --> 0:15:38.360 each get a certain amount that we've decided that we're 0:15:38.360 --> 0:15:41.720 gonna get every month, and and if you spend it, 0:15:41.840 --> 0:15:44.200 then you spend it. But otherwise, for the most part, 0:15:44.200 --> 0:15:46.280 we're saving up in the in those in those buckets. 0:15:46.400 --> 0:15:47.880 Is another way to look at it that we've that's 0:15:47.880 --> 0:15:50.440 how we've talked about it before as well, that we're 0:15:51.040 --> 0:15:53.720 sort of letting the bucket grow because we know that, Yeah, 0:15:53.720 --> 0:15:55.280 in my case, oh, I'm gonna get it. I'm gonna 0:15:55.280 --> 0:15:58.440 get a bike. Uh, and it's gonna cost thousand, two 0:15:58.440 --> 0:16:01.160 thousand bucks and I'm not gonna be spending a whole 0:16:01.160 --> 0:16:03.560 lot of money on other other other things. All right, 0:16:03.600 --> 0:16:05.240 what if you buy that item early on in the 0:16:05.320 --> 0:16:09.680 year and so you're in negative in your personal account 0:16:09.760 --> 0:16:13.640 on the budget, how do you tell that? So it's 0:16:13.680 --> 0:16:15.440 it's just as there as a as a negative that 0:16:15.600 --> 0:16:18.080 we try not to let that happen. But when it does, 0:16:18.720 --> 0:16:20.480 it since there as a as a negative, and then 0:16:20.520 --> 0:16:23.200 it slowly takes back up as the as the months progress. 0:16:23.240 --> 0:16:25.680 And yeah, in general, we try not to dip down 0:16:25.680 --> 0:16:28.960 into the red. General good rule of budget, good rule 0:16:29.000 --> 0:16:30.960 of thumb, don't get in the red. I mean that's 0:16:30.960 --> 0:16:33.560 one of the reasons why, right, it's just if you're 0:16:33.600 --> 0:16:37.480 on the same page with your spouse, it helps two 0:16:38.440 --> 0:16:40.840 work as a team. When you can work as a team, 0:16:40.840 --> 0:16:42.400 you're just going to be able to get so much 0:16:42.440 --> 0:16:46.080 more done having that accountability to your significant other. And 0:16:46.120 --> 0:16:50.520 even if it's not a spouse or I think having 0:16:50.520 --> 0:16:52.440 a friend or somebody that you can sort of talk 0:16:52.480 --> 0:16:55.880 to and about your goals, I think that's really helpful 0:16:55.880 --> 0:16:57.560 as well. I don't I don't think there's very many 0:16:57.560 --> 0:17:00.040 people at all that do that. But the reason that 0:17:00.160 --> 0:17:01.840 I say that is because this is something that not 0:17:01.920 --> 0:17:05.240 just couples can do, but yeah, somebody that's not in 0:17:05.240 --> 0:17:07.119 a relationship as well. Well. It's interesting. I feel like 0:17:07.119 --> 0:17:09.720 a lot of people actually have found kind of some 0:17:09.840 --> 0:17:14.280 therapy in starting like a blog to document how they're 0:17:14.320 --> 0:17:18.920 doing with budgeting. And actually a lot of successful online 0:17:19.080 --> 0:17:24.760 entrepreneurs started off as budget bloggers talking about getting out 0:17:24.760 --> 0:17:28.800 of debt and how they kind of pulled themselves up 0:17:28.800 --> 0:17:31.320 out of their out of their debt hole and now 0:17:31.400 --> 0:17:34.720 they're budget masters, and so those people are always interesting 0:17:34.800 --> 0:17:36.800 to read. And there's just a lot of people like that. 0:17:36.840 --> 0:17:38.800 So maybe for you, maybe it's not even public. But 0:17:38.840 --> 0:17:41.400 maybe it's just journaling about it, but writing it down 0:17:41.400 --> 0:17:43.840 and keeping track of your progress and having some sort 0:17:43.880 --> 0:17:47.320 of visual record of what you're working towards and what 0:17:47.359 --> 0:17:50.800 you've what you've done. I mean for me, So I 0:17:50.840 --> 0:17:55.879 started making my budgets back in ten years ago, right 0:17:55.920 --> 0:17:58.399 out ten years ago. Now what's kind of crazy is 0:17:58.440 --> 0:18:00.320 that I can look back and see what I was 0:18:00.359 --> 0:18:02.760 saving towards back then, see see how much I was spending. 0:18:03.200 --> 0:18:06.200 It was significantly less than what we spend now is 0:18:06.240 --> 0:18:10.240 a family of five. But it's actually, it's it's really cool, 0:18:10.280 --> 0:18:12.560 I think to be able to it's sort of a 0:18:12.560 --> 0:18:14.399 a time machine in a in a sence, you know, 0:18:14.600 --> 0:18:16.760 to kind of be able to go back and look 0:18:17.280 --> 0:18:19.200 and say, oh, this is we thought this was such 0:18:19.200 --> 0:18:23.280 a huge deal. It was not. Or we saw, you know, 0:18:23.359 --> 0:18:25.320 this came up and this kind of wrecked us for 0:18:25.400 --> 0:18:27.400 a couple of months there, but in reality we saw 0:18:27.440 --> 0:18:29.560 how it kind of ended up being okay, and we 0:18:29.680 --> 0:18:32.120 kind of stuck to the plan and because of that 0:18:32.480 --> 0:18:35.600 where where we are today. So yeah, I wanted to 0:18:35.600 --> 0:18:37.800 talk to about how just in general, so we're I mean, 0:18:37.800 --> 0:18:39.399 we're talking about why you need to budget, right, So 0:18:39.440 --> 0:18:45.040 as a tool. What a budget does essentially is takes 0:18:45.080 --> 0:18:47.640 this plan that you want to have right in regards 0:18:47.680 --> 0:18:49.919 to your finances and your money, and it takes it 0:18:49.960 --> 0:18:52.879 and it links your plan that you have in your 0:18:52.880 --> 0:18:57.240 head two your behavior and how you actually live throughout 0:18:57.240 --> 0:18:59.119 the month, because you can we can think that we 0:18:59.160 --> 0:19:02.080 want to do something all day long, but if we 0:19:02.160 --> 0:19:03.720 don't really have a plan for it or have it 0:19:03.760 --> 0:19:05.840 written down, we're just gonna do what we're gonna do. 0:19:05.920 --> 0:19:07.800 Our friends are gonna go out and oh this is 0:19:07.840 --> 0:19:09.480 coming up, or oh man, this show is in town. 0:19:09.640 --> 0:19:12.040 Oh man, there's so much fun stuff I want to 0:19:12.040 --> 0:19:15.320 do and things I want to buy, and you misbehave 0:19:16.440 --> 0:19:18.479 and then you're you look at back at the end 0:19:18.480 --> 0:19:20.200 of the month and you think, oh my gosh, where 0:19:20.200 --> 0:19:22.560 did where did all my money go? The budget is 0:19:22.560 --> 0:19:25.760 there to keep you in line, and it's yourself keeping 0:19:25.760 --> 0:19:27.960 yourself online. It's not like it's somebody else. You get 0:19:27.960 --> 0:19:32.359 to do this to yourself. It's like your your past 0:19:32.400 --> 0:19:35.440 self telling your future self how you're gonna behave and 0:19:35.920 --> 0:19:38.679