If you want to keep your money organized, you know that a budget plan is what you need. However, not everyone is successful in creating a realistic budget that they can stick to. Oftentimes, people who get discouraged are those who created the wrong type of plan.
Creating your budget plan involves a couple of analysis that you should try to complete. The problem sometimes lies in how you can commit to the plan your created. If you want to lower your monthly expenses through a budget plan, you have to consider how you can stick to it. Budgeting is only as effective as your ability to follow through with it. Otherwise, you will not be able to reach the financial goals that you wanted to reach through your budget.
5 money personalities your budgeting efforts can pattern from
While the financial aspect is very important in budgeting, do not forget your own money personality. Although you want to logically assume that you can commit to the budget you created, it is your personality that will dictate if you can actually make that happen. Being logical is good but budgeting is not just about the numbers. You have to consider the emotional aspect that will help fully implement the changes and restrictions that your budget will impose in your life. You need to be able to feel good about it so the any sacrifices will be tolerable.
Here are the 5 common money personalities. See which of them you identify with so you can base your budget from it.
-
The Impulsive Consumer. The first personality is a person who relies on buying things to make themselves feel good. They rarely think about their purchases. As long as they have the ability to pay for something they will keep on buying things. They feel that they worked hard for their money and that they deserve to enjoy it now. You can safely say that they live for the moment without much thought about how they will get by in the future.
-
The Frugal Consumer. The second personality is someone who practices frugality to the letter. These consumers focus on saving all the time. Unlike the previous, they live for the future. They always consider how every decision will affect the life that they will live and that makes them very cautious. They prefer to forego expenses today in exchange for a comfortable tomorrow. They stretch their money to the limit so they have more than enough savings every month.
-
The Goal-getter Consumer. The next personality is a person who is driven by goals. They save up for something then once they reach that target, they will spend to their heart’s content as a reward. Some people go on the extreme during one of their spending sprees.
-
The Oblivious Consumer. These are the people who choose to avoid analyzing how they spend their money. In a way, they are like the impulsive buyers in the sense that they do not want to be burdened by thinking about their expenses. In most cases, these people make financial mistakes that cost them a lot of interest and credit penalties.
-
The Anxious Consumer. These are the people who constantly stress over their money. They set really high standards and then they pressure themselves into reaching it – even if it is quite unrealistic. They have meticulous ways of budgeting and organizing their money. They stay away from wrong financial decisions.
If you want to create a budget that you can stick to, you need to identify which of these describe your personality. Don’t box yourself into one personality. It is possible to have two or more personalities.
Make sure your budget reflects your personality
When you have found out the personality that describes you best, you need to keep that in mind while creating your budget. You want your plan to complement your personality so it is easier to follow and implement. It is also your chance to highlight any positive traits of your personality while keeping the bad ones restricted.
Here are a couple of tips to help you do this.
-
Spend time to list your expenses. This is a crucial step to keep your budget realistic. You have to spend a month or two listing your various expenses. If anything, this will help you identify your spending habits. It can confirm the type of money personality that you have.
-
Identify the expenses that will make you happy. While the expenses that will make you happy are not always the important ones, you should make room for them in your budget. That is the only way that you can be motivated to stick to it. Just shift your expenses aside to make room for the expenses that will make you happy.
-
Align it with you financial goals. Your financial goals are usually a reflection of your personality. Of course, you have to consider how you can maximize your personality to reach them but you can create your budget to help you with that. If you want to save, put that in your budget. If you want to buy a home, that should be on your budget too.
Your personality will allow you to stick to the budget that you will create for yourself. It helps to use a tool that will confirm if the budget you created is just right for you. We found an expense tracker tool on the SuzeOrman.com site that can make this possible. You can look at other tools online to choose one that can suit your needs better.