Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.
Speaker 1: Good Morning, This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.
Speaker 1: Today's tip is to give yourself a budget. Spending nothing
Speaker 1: isn't always the way to go. Sometimes spending intentionally can
Speaker 1: be well worth your dollars. On a recent episode of
Speaker 1: my other podcast, Best of Both Worlds, my co host
Speaker 1: Sarah hart Unger and I fielded a question from a
Speaker 1: listener about how to spend a professional development budget that
Speaker 1: her employer had just given her. We offered ideas, and
Speaker 1: we hope that the listener pursued some meaningful opportunities. Now,
Speaker 1: if you are self employed like me, that question may
Speaker 1: make you think, well, hey, wouldn't it be nice if
Speaker 1: I had a professional development budget that I could decide
Speaker 1: how to use. Well, I am here to tell you
Speaker 1: that you can. Everyone needs to grow professionally, whether you've
Speaker 1: got a standard job or not. There are lots of
Speaker 1: great opportunities for professional development out there. Not everything is free,
Speaker 1: of course, but that doesn't have to be a deal breaker.
Speaker 1: If you are a freelancer, when you make your business
Speaker 1: budget for the year, consider adding a line for professional development. Now,
Speaker 1: if you're struggling to meet your income goals. Maybe you
Speaker 1: start with a fairly small budget, say three hundred dollars
Speaker 1: for the year, with the intention of increasing this when
Speaker 1: you can. But even three hundred dollars is definitely not zero.
Speaker 1: A three hundred dollar budget means you can buy pretty
Speaker 1: much any work related book you want, participate in a webinar,
Speaker 1: or subscribe to a publication that is important in your field.
Speaker 1: It means you don't automatically think you should say no
Speaker 1: when an opportunity for training comes your way. You can
Speaker 1: do this for any category of spending anyone can, particularly
Speaker 1: when money is tight. We sometimes think we should spend
Speaker 1: zero on a category, but in many cases it would
Speaker 1: be wise, either for our own future earnings or at
Speaker 1: least for our happiness, to spend more than zero. Maybe
Speaker 1: not a lot, but not zero either. When that is
Speaker 1: the case, creating a designated budget can allow us to
Speaker 1: spend mindfully, rather than feeling guilty when we do spend,
Speaker 1: or not spending when it would be smart to do so.
Speaker 1: For instance, if your clothes are feeling a little older
Speaker 1: bill fitting after two years of not going many places,
Speaker 1: it might be time to replace some rather than spending
Speaker 1: more than you can afford or just doing without. You
Speaker 1: can decide on a certain amount of money that you
Speaker 1: will spend on new clothes. These guardrails can make you
Speaker 1: feel okay about purchases. There is a limit to it,
Speaker 1: and it's also not zero. It is an acceptable, mindful amount.
Speaker 1: You make trade offs within that amount, but you don't
Speaker 1: pitt every clothing dollar against let's say your vacation aspirations.
Speaker 1: You know it is okay to spend something if there's
Speaker 1: no extra money anywhere in your overall budget. This still
Speaker 1: doesn't mean you can't create a small budget for something extra.
Speaker 1: You might be able to cut back somewhere to fund
Speaker 1: something else. For instance, you could be a weekday vegetarian
Speaker 1: for a while to finance a small getaway. You could
Speaker 1: fund new clothes by selling your old clothes at a
Speaker 1: consignment shop. It seems like budgets are best for people
Speaker 1: who are big spenders. Telling yourself you can only spend
Speaker 1: four dollars on clothes will keep such a person from
Speaker 1: spending four thousand dollars on clothes. And that's probably a
Speaker 1: good thing. But I suspect many people listening to this
Speaker 1: podcast are already quite thrifty. Giving ourselves budgets for specific
Speaker 1: categories is a way to nudge us to spend when
Speaker 1: we might not naturally do so. We tell ourselves we
Speaker 1: shouldn't go to that conference, or we shouldn't buy those books,
Speaker 1: when in fact we'd get a lot out of doing so.
Speaker 1: Giving ourselves a budget can be freeing, allowing us to
Speaker 1: spend mindfully and feeling good that we have in the meantime.
Speaker 1: This is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's to making
Speaker 1: the most of our time. Hey, everybody, I'd love to
Speaker 1: hear from it. You can send me your tips, your questions,
Speaker 1: or anything else. Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook,
Speaker 1: and Instagram at before Breakfast pop that's b E the
Speaker 1: number four, then breakfast p o D. You can also
Speaker 1: shoot me an email at Before Breakfast podcast at i
Speaker 1: heeart media dot com that before Breakfast is spelled out
Speaker 1: with all the letters. Thanks so much, should I look
Speaker 1: forward to staying in touch. Before Breakfast is a production
Speaker 1: of I Heart Radio. For more podcasts from my heart Radio,
Speaker 1: visit the I heart Radio app, Apple podcast, or wherever
Speaker 1: you listen to your favorite shows.