so you only buy stuff on sale and you never overdraft your bank account and you pay off your credit card every month. why in the world would you need a budget? too restricting, and obviously, you're doing fine.
well, are you satisfied with "fine"? or do you want to be in control of your own money? we chose the latter. making a budget is pretty sobering. you write down $50/month for eating out, then look back at your checkbook and see what you actually spent last month was over $150. WHAT!? how?? your family only eats at mcdonald's. for a family of four to eat at mcdonald's it costs at least $15 or so (i'm totally guessing. jake kinda counts as two people, so for our family of "three" it's like $10). if you go through the drive-thru once a week, that's already $60 for the month. and of course you have to go out to eat after church on sunday, and you usually choose mexican or italian. for your family it's about $30 every time. so that's $120 a month. for your family of four to utilize the drive-thru once a week, and eat out after church on sundays, you've already spent $180 on eating out. and you think $50 is enough to budget for that?
the above is just one example. i'm trying to show you that having it all down on paper really makes you see clearly how much you are currently spend on everything. when it's all out there, you can then see where you need to cut back, or even (rarely) where you need to allow for more.
with a budget written down, you can also determine your financial goals and dreams, and plan for those accordingly.
a budget is not restricting; it's freeing. for someone who loves structure - like me - it really helps me to know that yes, we can go to the movies, but we don't have enough in the entertainment category to do popcorn at said movie. and usually i'll choose my own (homemade, better-for-you, more delicious) popcorn and a redbox movie. so just go ahead and determine that you're going to make you a budget. it'll be fun :)
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