Dawn's Evolution

To me budgeting is like dieting. If your diet is too strict you will end up binge eating. And most people tend to see a diet as something temporary, so that after they have reached their goal weight they resume their old eating habits. Thus they regain the unwanted weight.

That’s what happens to me when I budget. I go through periods of frugality which are always followed by moments of binge buying. And at the end of a certain period I look back and can’t believe that I spent so much money on unnecessary things that I either don’t use or weren’t even bought for me.

So I will not live on a budget, what I will do is:
1. I will be changing my habits.
2. Instead of focusing on a budget amount I will focus on the amount or percentage of income that I can save.

1. The new habits.
I will change the way I deal with my money and make sure that I don’t feel restricted. Because when you feel restricted and deprived that’s when things tend to go very wrong. This to me means:
• Setting aside some play money for eating out, clothes shopping etc.
• Using this play money to allow myself a set amount of clothes e.g: 2 blouses every month
• Put away my ATM cards and only use the cash I have on hand.
• Have a “safe” amount of cash on my ATM card for splurges and small emergencies
• Every end of the month I will reward myself for good behavior 

2. Saving a fixed amount of cash.
This amount or percentage will be automatically relocated to a savings account. Depending on my income or my mood (lol) I may increase the amount that I put into the savings account but I will never go lower than a certain amount. I believe having a minimal amount that you want to save is important.

Why?
It’s all about feeling accomplished. Trust me on this, when you are used to putting away a certain amount of cash each month, you tend to feel a sense of accomplishment when you are able to exceed that set limit. It’s a great feeling and it encourages you to continue saving.

Also important is not looking at that savings account too often when you have just started saving. It can either discourage you or make you want to spend the cash.

This is how I plan on reaching my financial freedom while staying motivated and happy :)

What's you opinion on budgets?