Don’t Let These 3 Bad Attitudes About Budgeting Wreck Your Financial Success

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Budgeting is not a dirty word. If you want to improve your personal finances, just say no to these feelings about budgeting. [[{“value”:”

Want to know the No. 1 secret hack to feeling better about your personal finances? According to a new survey, from Wells Fargo and The Female Quotient (The FQ), people who are happy about their financial situation are much more likely to create a budget.

The survey found that 85% of people who are happy with their personal finances have created a budget, compared to only 75% of people who are unhappy with their financial lives. The survey also found that people who are unhappy about their finances are more likely to say that budgeting makes them feel:

Stressed outSad that they can’t buy thingsLike they’ll never have enough money

If you’re reluctant to set up a budget, these beliefs could be sabotaging your financial success. Let’s look at three bad excuses for not budgeting — and how to overcome them for a happier financial life.

1. “Budgeting stresses me out.”

The survey from Wells Fargo and The FQ found that, among people who are unhappy with their financial lives, 77% say that budgeting “stresses me out.” (Only 45% of people who are happy with their finances feel this way.)

If budgeting feels stressful, that’s understandable. Too often, people see it as a painful math problem that ruins all the fun in life. But budgeting doesn’t have to feel like a punishment or a restraint; it can be a source of clarity and calm. When you set a budget, you can have confidence that every dollar in your paycheck is going to be used for a specific purpose, and that you will have enough money for all of your important financial goals.

How to overcome this bad budgeting attitude: Sign up for a budgeting app. Today’s best budgeting apps make it easier than ever before to set a budget, track your spending, and automatically manage your money. Budgeting apps can help you see exactly where your money goes, get organized in how you spend and save, and even set money aside in digital “envelopes” for specific savings goals. No stress required!

2. “Budgeting makes me feel like I’ll never have enough money.”

Another misconception about budgeting is that it’s all about scarcity, austerity, and forcing yourself to make do with less. The Wells Fargo/The FQ survey found that 81% of people who are unhappy with their finances said that “budgeting makes me feel like I’ll never have enough money.” (Only 44% of people who are happy with their finances agreed with this statement.)

It’s true that some people love frugality and are good at figuring out how to squeeze a few extra dollars out of every occasion. But budgeting doesn’t have to involve a “scarcity mindset.” What if budgeting was about abundance? Budgeting can give you feelings of financial freedom.

When you have a good budget and you know where your money is going, it can give you confidence to spend more freely. If you already have saved for your vacation, you can enjoy spending that extra cash. If you already know that your retirement savings contributions are coming out of your paycheck (by “paying yourself first”), you can feel better about spending the rest.

How to overcome this bad budgeting attitude: Setting a budget doesn’t have to feel like a diet. Budgeting apps can give you a clearer picture of where your money is going — and help you cut back on the “empty calories” of your monthly spending. When you cancel some unwanted bills or cut back on unconscious spending, this frees up more money to spend on what you truly crave.

For example, you might save hundreds of dollars per year by making a few changes to your streaming subscriptions, cellphone service, and home internet. Credit monitoring services like Credit Karma can also give you free ideas for where you could get a better deal on monthly expenses like auto insurance.

3. “Budgeting makes me feel sad that I can’t buy certain things.”

The survey from Wells Fargo and The FQ found that 82% of people who are unhappy with their current financial situation said that the idea of budgeting makes them feel “sad I can’t buy certain things.” (Only 46% of financially happy people felt this way.)

This is another example of how too many people have a scarcity mindset about budgeting. In reality, using a budget the right way can give you more spending power to buy the things and experiences that are really important to you!

How to overcome this bad budgeting attitude: Use your budget to set up automatic savings for specific savings goals. Want to buy a plane ticket, a vacation, a new car, or a house? Create a budget. Get a detailed understanding of where your spending is happening — and see how to redirect money into savings.

Several banks and personal finance apps now offer automatic savings and specific savings goals. Ally Bank has savings “buckets” and SoFi Bank has “vaults” that work like digital banking envelopes to set money aside for goals of your choice. Both of these banks also allow you to sign up for automatic savings, where money transfers from checking to savings automatically based on your paydays and spending patterns — no effort required.

Bottom line

Don’t get dragged down by self-defeating attitudes about budgeting. Using a budget is not about scarcity, sadness, or self-denial; it’s about finding empowerment and using your money for its highest purpose. Creating a budget can make you feel better about your personal finances and help you get more of what you want in life.

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