A Household Budget Is Good
...but there is some bad news.

If anyone tells you that living on a household budget is easy they are not being truthful. It takes discipline and commitment. And to be honest, it can also limit your fun...for the moment.

Most people really enjoy spending money. It does something to us emotionally that is difficult to describe. Simply stated, spending money is fun. Especially if it's someone else's money!

Fun is the lure used by the credit card companies.

It's fun to buy new clothes. It's fun to eat out at a nice restaurant. It's fun to buy a new gaming console or that cool new phone. It's fun to have fun. All that fun usually costs more money than you earn so it's easy to pull out a credit card to defer the payment...and the pain.

Whether we like it or not a household budget is a necessary tool.

Actually a budget, when used properly, will increase your fun in ways you do not expect.

When you make a purchase you have the peace of mind of knowing you can pay the bill. When you go out to eat, the food tastes better because your stress is not increasing with each bite. The latest electronic toy you purchased continues to be fun at the end of the month. Talk about fun!

So the good news about creating and sticking to a budget is that they work and they make life more fun. A household budget will give you peace of mind about your finances in ways you have not experienced since you were a child. Don't we all want to reduce our stress?

The bad news about living according to a budget is that you can't make every purchase that looks good at the moment. You have to use self-control. You have to make purchases you can afford. You have to spend only money that you have and not money that you borrow. That can be a bit of a bummer.

The really bad news about a household budget is that most people don't stick with them.

Some studies show that only about 10% of individuals or families that create a budget stick with it for more than a year. The credit card companies win. How sad.

Debt does not have to be your master. It's still your choice!

If you are here then you are concerned about your debt issues. You have a desire to choose the narrow path to financial freedom. No one can force you to live according to a household budget. You must decide and you must reaffirm that decision every day. The alternative is growing consumer debt and growing stress.

Neither of those sounds like much fun!