The missing link

I was never taught money. Or more to the point, I was never taught how to handle it. As such when I starting earning money I used it for what it was designed for – spending. At first it was a powerful experience as I was in charge and could, within the limits of my $100/week income, buy whatever I wanted. The problem with that though is I would quickly run out of cash and have to wait until the next payday to get more only to repeat the cycle.

After many years of this rather painful existence I started to come around to the idea that I was doing it all wrong so I started to seek out answers to get away from the roller coaster ride and all of the difficulties that come with it. The answer of course was budgeting, but you know that much. In fact you may know it all too well but you just can’t seem to connect the dots to make it work for you. That was the case with me back in 2001 after I first discovered Dave Ramsey on the radio one-day. After listening to him for just a short while I realized his baby step approach to getting out of debt made perfect sense but I just could not get the budget figured out. At least not the way Dave does it with a forward-looking crystal ball approach where you guess at how much money you’re going to receive. But I digress, the missing link I’m referring to above isn’t how to budget but is instead what specific element might make a difference for you to finally apply what you already know you need to do.

In other words, you know you need a budget, you might even be working at one, but it never seems to completely gel.

For some people it’s as simple as watching a video on how it’s done. For others reading a manual tips the scale. For others though I think the missing link that makes the difference is person-to-person motivation. Being able to sit down with someone else who is going through the same issues you’re having and being able to bounce questions off of them while they do the same to you. Would that work for you? Or is the thought of bearing your financial soul to others too scary to comprehend?

During my tenure at YNAB I often asked for and received the budget files of people who had questions and concerns. Some were in great shape, while others we’re barely scraping by. In every single case though I never judged them as a person but instead worked with them to help them better understand the YNAB methodology and what they could do to get ahead.

So my question to you is this; Would you be interested in sitting down around a table or living room to talk budgeting and how you can get ahead with others? Could that be your missing link?

I’d love to hear your thoughts. Please leave your comments below. ツ