I’m Tired of Budgeting

I know I should be getting ready to close out December’s budget, figure out January’s budget with my new goal of putting more money into investments every month, and getting various financial records ready for income tax season, but I just don’t want to. I’m tired of finances. I’m tired of record-keeping. I’m just plain tired.

I’ve been budgeting for years. I’ve readjusted the budget many times. I’ve gotten financial records ready for income tax purposes every year since I started working. To me, that seems like many years of work, and quite frankly, I would like a break.

I’d love to just take a year off from all things related to work and finances. Better yet, I’d love to just quit all together. I’d love to just retire from responsibility. It sounds so wonderful.

The problem is, I’ve done that before. I’ve been complacent. I’ve been lazy. I’ve passed the responsibility to someone else. And it didn’t turn out well.

My savings disappeared. My checkbook was the most difficult number puzzle I’ve ever seen in my life. My bills didn’t get paid. The payments I did make were late. And I didn’t know how in the world I’d manage to ever afford anything.

The solution to those problems of course was to budget. On a budget, there’s no wondering. You know where your money is, where it went, how much you have, and whether or not you’ll be able to afford things. The solution was simple, I just had to overcome my laziness.

As I find myself tempted to slide back into my pre-budget laziness, I have to remind myself how awful it was to be in such financial disarray. Not only that, but I didn’t have children to think about then like I do now. Now I need to stay on track not just for myself, but for my family.

So although I really don’t feel like doing the little bit of work that it takes to continue budgeting, I also don’t feel like letting my finances deteriorate to an unrecognizable disarray of numbers.

I have to budget, even when I don’t feel like it. So like it or not, I’ve got to find the motivation to keep doing what I know I need to do. Although that sounds easier said than done, it needs to be done. There’s no way around it.

So, I’ll budget for myself and for my family, knowing that in the end, I’ll be glad I did. It’s easy to get side-tracked, but it’s not so easy to get back on track. I’m going to stay on track. After all, it’s less work to stay on track than it is to get back on track.

Article by Randi Millward