Budgeting

I've always been a fan of the principle "spend less than you make." I thought it was enough to pay off my credit card each month and call it a day. I mean I am in grad school so it's not like there are too many questions about where it goes. Food, tuition and rent about sums up my three biggest monthly expenditures.

In the spring, however I took a free Dave Ramsey class offered on campus. Money has always intrigued me; how to spend it, how to save it, etc. So I signed up and everything made sense and I did most of the things he recommended EXCEPT budget.

Fast forward about a month and I have a new job with a consistent monthly income so I decide to give budgeting a whirl... Because that's how budgeting works... on a whim.

Let me tell you, I don't much like the word no from others, which is why I hesitate to use it on myself when it comes to my spending. Hence my lack of a budget and my blown food budget from the month of May. I mean blown. Wow. Good thing May ended and it's June which means a fresh start.

If you'd asked me before what was holding me back from budgeting I would have said either my poor math skills or my inconsistent income from part time jobs. However, I can now say the true reason I didn't stick to it was because I have a really hard time saying "no" to myself. Self control is a fruit of the spirit that I'm lacking.

I'm here to tell you that conviction, money management and self control are all good and healthy and lessons I've learned this past month.

So with that, here's to hoping for even better self control in June.