Bernz
Sometimes in life, it is a matter of how we look at things, circumstances and people that can make a world of positive difference.
One could say that a glass is half full or half empty. Half full is an abundance mindset and half empty is a scarcity mindset.
When it comes to managing monthly finances, most people have the same mentality which is that they have to budget. This is sort of like having to diet.
It means that you are not the master of your fate, your diet or your budget is. Most people fail at dieting, just like most people fail at budgeting.
Now what is planned spending?
Budgeting is a term that seems to imply that you have to follow a rigid set of categories for your monthly income with very little deviance.
Planned spending is the concept that you are much more flexible in what you want to spend your money on to enhance your life.
Think of planned spending as how you are going to spend your money to make you happy or meet your life’s goals. If the category does not make you happy, then just get rid of it. Understand that it is all a matter of choice.
So the first thing you do is set up your happiness categories. These include the monthly living expenses such as housing, utilities, food and groceries, transportation and so forth. This also means that you will consider all the reasons for ever taking on loans or debts of any sort.
The question that you will always ask is whether this planned expense will help you in life and in your pursuit of happiness. If the answer is “no” then you must quickly get rid of it!
This could mean planning on eliminating all the burdensome debt in your life quickly.
So the best thing to do is to create a simple excel spreadsheet and list all the items that you plan on spending your money on, including any current obligations. This includes any savings plans for any reason for your future happiness.
You will look at it and you will either be happy with the items and their totals or you will not. You are not enslaved to them you are the master of them.
It is your life so take control!
The first idea that I want you to understand is that this is your life. You are the one in control and you are designing your life for your own happiness and well-being. How you spend your life is your choice and how you spend your money is your choice.
Money is like electricity or fire. If handled properly it adds to your quality of life. If handled improperly it can actually hurt you. So the first mindset you need is that money is your servant and you are the master.
You have already designed your life so now you are designing exactly how you are going to spend your money. Change your mindset from budgeting to simply a plan spending to accomplish the life that you desire and have already created in your life’s plan.
Do not be hard on yourself!
Once you have changed your mindset to the fact that you are in control and you are pursuing happiness and then at the end of every month simply look at what you spent your money on. All of it!
If a particular category did not make you happy or you feel you spent too much in a particular category, then simply adjust it so that it makes you happy.
Your mindset is now changed to what you are planning on spending each and every month, not how I am tied down to this thing called a budget.
There is no reason to be hard on yourself as you will be, from this day forward, always going to be delighted with yourself, your choices and the way you plan on spending your money.
It seems similar to a budget, but the slight change in mindset to planned spending makes a world of difference!
