EVERYTHING WE DO IN LIFE BECOMES A LESSON LEARNED
Just like you we had to learn how to start a budget plan for our finances so we could get out of debt and live a simple life with little to no money stress or worry.
In the midst of it all became a year of budgeting lessons we’d come to appreciate 7 years later and perhaps for life.
When we first started Canadian Budget Binder was around the time we started talking about whether there were budgeting classes for adults that we could attend in our community.
We had to learn how to live on a budget and to do so that meant we started with zero experience and with no one to turn to for advice.
After a quick search online we decided that we really didn’t need to spend money to learn about budgeting lessons especially with Google at our fingertips.
However, that doesn’t mean that you wouldn’t benefit from such classes if offered in your community so I’d certainly recommend looking into it if you think you learn better via an in-class setting.
Learning new currency was an educational curve for me when I immigrated to Canada and you’d laugh if you saw me picking money out of my hand like a child but that is reality for many new Canadians.
Financial planning is crucial to the success of everyone whether you understand Canadian currency or whatever currency you have in the country you live.
By the time I started this blog I was well aware of the currency in Canada so it became no issue for us from that perspective.
After our first year budgeting on Canadian Budget Binder we knew there were things we could improve on and budgeting lessons we had learned.
For those of you new to financial education I wanted to share with you a few budgeting lessons that helped us to increase our savings power and ultimately become debt free by the age of 40.
I’m not saying that you will follow the same path as we did but what’s important here are the experiences we share.
Reputable Online Budget Resources
Be cautious where you get your budget advice from especially if it is from websites littered with click-bait earning money from you visiting. Most often you won’t find any type of personalization to what you read and that’s a big no-no for me.
I’d rather read about true stories with examples such as our blog. Reputable news media sources were also where we would find ourselves especially when financial experts were brought in for interviews or podcasts.
One of the major budgeting lessons I can offer to all of you is to not stop learning about finance once you have your budget set in place.
The more you educate yourself whether it be online or by reading finance books the better you’ll get at managing your money. You’ll also feel more empowered to do so because you’re building life skills that are essential to your success.
Budget Examples
Is there a best way to budget? Well, yes and no depending on what you are comfortable with. As we scoured the web for budget examples we struggled to find real-life family budgets to review.
Not many people like to divulge anything about their money let alone the debt that they have for the world to see. This is why a popular reality television show gained so much attention because consumers wanted to see what other people were doing with their money.
They also wanted to see what industry experts were suggesting for them to do so they could get out of debt.
It’s not rocket science that’s for sure, it’s a mindset. If you don’t have it you won’t get what you need out of your budgeting experience.
End of story.
Fast forward and Canadian Budget Binder was brought to life where we decided to share our finances with the world. I’ve documented the last 7 years of our budget on Canadian Budget Binder like a diary and with that plenty of budgeting lessons learned.
I remember one of the first blogs we went to called Million Dollar Journey because he was sharing his numbers and that intrigued us especially that he was Canadian.
We needed more of that because it was real and it inspired us and that’s what we wanted to offer all of you, inspiration with our monthly budget updates.
Budgeting Tools
When we first started we used the pencil and paper method which transitioned over to an excel spreadsheet that we created after many hours of screen time. I won’t lie I looked online for days in hopes of finding a budget that would work for us and I struggled.
I’m not a mobile phone app guy since I don’t even own a phone so apps were out of the question and besides I can’t imagine doing my finances on a phone.
One of the critical budgeting lessons we learned from creating both the paper budget and the excel budget spreadsheet was that detail was essential.
Using a basic budget is fine but you may notice that not all of the expenses you wanted covered will be attended to when the time comes.
This is where our projected expenses came into play and why it was important to have an excel budget that we could change around when the time came. A good example would be when our son was born and we needed a category for baby.
In our eyes the more budget categories we had the better diversified our budget was and it gave us the bigger picture that we were craving.
As the year went on other budgeting lessons started to follow the path of documentation which is why we started to create lists that were printable.
From there the Canadian Budget Binder Free Budgeting Tools centre was taking shape and we invested more time into learning as much as we could about the way we earned, saved and spent money.
We had our excel budget and now all of these printable forms that we could three-hole punch and track from our freezer inventory to our overtime hours in one spot.
Budgeting can seem like a part-time job but it’s more like going out on a date and then marriage or living together til death do us part.
Let me explain.
If the date is successful you continue the relationship but if it fails you’re back out looking. Finding the right budgeting tools to make your budgeting experience successful takes work as does a relationship and it’s an ongoing process for life.
You have to Love your Budget but you don’t have to be IN love with it which means don’t obsess over it but be mindful and responsible with how you handle your money.
Budget Talk
I remember when I first started this blog I didn’t really talk to anyone about finance because I was too worried what they might think about what I didn’t have.
Lots of people are like how I was because we think we need to meet a certain status to be accepted by people when in reality lots of Canadians are struggling to keep afloat financially.
Talking to others has been a cornerstone moment and one of the major budgeting lessons learned not only in the first year but in all of our years working on CBB.
I’ve managed to connect with so many people online about their financial concerns that it empowered me to talk to people outside of the blog about money and budgets.
I wasn’t afraid anymore and I learned that by listening better I was able to hear how others were struggling even if they didn’t come right out and tell me straight away.
When you are talking about money with others if you make the conversation comforting and not all about how much you have you gain a better perspective.
Stay away from the people who constantly talk about how perfect their life is as it’s a load of you know what. Keep in touch with those who care to share their experiences in order to inspire you to do better.
It’s truly a new revelation when you find yourself on the same page with someone else when it comes to money and not being judged because you might have screwed up along the way.
Those are great friends to have around you and supportive is what you need when learning how to budget. Don’t do it alone because without all of you and getting out there and chat it would have been a lonely journey.
Bottom Line Budgeting Lessons
Let’s go over the budgeting lessons we just talked about and make note of things you would like to accomplish during your first year of budgeting.
- Budget Online Resources
- Budget Examples
- Budget Tools
- Budget Talk
Those were four of the most critical budgeting lessons we learned our first year but certainly not the last that we battled through.
One last tip is to never give up trying if your budget isn’t the one for you because it just means you haven’t found the right fit.
By this I mean you have to find a budget that you are comfortable with and you know you can continue using with ease.
Happy Budgeting Friends.