WEBVTT - Give yourself a budget

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.

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<v Speaker 1>Good Morning, This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.

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<v Speaker 1>Today's tip is to give yourself a budget. Spending nothing

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<v Speaker 1>isn't always the way to go. Sometimes spending intentionally can

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<v Speaker 1>be well worth your dollars. On a recent episode of

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<v Speaker 1>my other podcast, Best of Both Worlds, my co host

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<v Speaker 1>Sarah hart Unger and I fielded a question from a

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<v Speaker 1>listener about how to spend a professional development budget that

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<v Speaker 1>her employer had just given her. We offered ideas, and

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<v Speaker 1>we hope that the listener pursued some meaningful opportunities. Now,

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<v Speaker 1>if you are self employed like me, that question may

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<v Speaker 1>make you think, well, hey, wouldn't it be nice if

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<v Speaker 1>I had a professional development budget that I could decide

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<v Speaker 1>how to use. Well, I am here to tell you

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<v Speaker 1>that you can. Everyone needs to grow professionally, whether you've

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<v Speaker 1>got a standard job or not. There are lots of

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<v Speaker 1>great opportunities for professional development out there. Not everything is free,

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<v Speaker 1>of course, but that doesn't have to be a deal breaker.

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<v Speaker 1>If you are a freelancer, when you make your business

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<v Speaker 1>budget for the year, consider adding a line for professional development. Now,

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<v Speaker 1>if you're struggling to meet your income goals. Maybe you

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<v Speaker 1>start with a fairly small budget, say three hundred dollars

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<v Speaker 1>for the year, with the intention of increasing this when

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<v Speaker 1>you can. But even three hundred dollars is definitely not zero.

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<v Speaker 1>A three hundred dollar budget means you can buy pretty

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<v Speaker 1>much any work related book you want, participate in a webinar,

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<v Speaker 1>or subscribe to a publication that is important in your field.

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<v Speaker 1>It means you don't automatically think you should say no

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<v Speaker 1>when an opportunity for training comes your way. You can

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<v Speaker 1>do this for any category of spending anyone can, particularly

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<v Speaker 1>when money is tight. We sometimes think we should spend

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<v Speaker 1>zero on a category, but in many cases it would

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<v Speaker 1>be wise, either for our own future earnings or at

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<v Speaker 1>least for our happiness, to spend more than zero. Maybe

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<v Speaker 1>not a lot, but not zero either. When that is

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<v Speaker 1>the case, creating a designated budget can allow us to

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<v Speaker 1>spend mindfully, rather than feeling guilty when we do spend,

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<v Speaker 1>or not spending when it would be smart to do so.

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<v Speaker 1>For instance, if your clothes are feeling a little older

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<v Speaker 1>bill fitting after two years of not going many places,

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<v Speaker 1>it might be time to replace some rather than spending

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<v Speaker 1>more than you can afford or just doing without. You

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<v Speaker 1>can decide on a certain amount of money that you

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<v Speaker 1>will spend on new clothes. These guardrails can make you

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<v Speaker 1>feel okay about purchases. There is a limit to it,

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<v Speaker 1>and it's also not zero. It is an acceptable, mindful amount.

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<v Speaker 1>You make trade offs within that amount, but you don't

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<v Speaker 1>pitt every clothing dollar against let's say your vacation aspirations.

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<v Speaker 1>You know it is okay to spend something if there's

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<v Speaker 1>no extra money anywhere in your overall budget. This still

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<v Speaker 1>doesn't mean you can't create a small budget for something extra.

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<v Speaker 1>You might be able to cut back somewhere to fund

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<v Speaker 1>something else. For instance, you could be a weekday vegetarian

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<v Speaker 1>for a while to finance a small getaway. You could

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<v Speaker 1>fund new clothes by selling your old clothes at a

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<v Speaker 1>consignment shop. It seems like budgets are best for people

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<v Speaker 1>who are big spenders. Telling yourself you can only spend

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<v Speaker 1>four dollars on clothes will keep such a person from

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<v Speaker 1>spending four thousand dollars on clothes. And that's probably a

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<v Speaker 1>good thing. But I suspect many people listening to this

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<v Speaker 1>podcast are already quite thrifty. Giving ourselves budgets for specific

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<v Speaker 1>categories is a way to nudge us to spend when

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<v Speaker 1>we might not naturally do so. We tell ourselves we

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<v Speaker 1>shouldn't go to that conference, or we shouldn't buy those books,

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<v Speaker 1>when in fact we'd get a lot out of doing so.

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<v Speaker 1>Giving ourselves a budget can be freeing, allowing us to

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<v Speaker 1>spend mindfully and feeling good that we have in the meantime.

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<v Speaker 1>This is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's to making

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<v Speaker 1>the most of our time. Hey, everybody, I'd love to

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<v Speaker 1>hear from it. You can send me your tips, your questions,

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<v Speaker 1>or anything else. Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook,

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<v Speaker 1>and Instagram at before Breakfast pop that's b E the

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<v Speaker 1>number four, then breakfast p o D. You can also

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<v Speaker 1>shoot me an email at Before Breakfast podcast at i

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<v Speaker 1>heeart media dot com that before Breakfast is spelled out

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<v Speaker 1>with all the letters. Thanks so much, should I look

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<v Speaker 1>forward to staying in touch. Before Breakfast is a production

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<v Speaker 1>of I Heart Radio. For more podcasts from my heart Radio,

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