The Best Money Advice I’ve Ever Gotten
The Best Money Advice I’ve Ever Gotten
By Cameron Huddleston May 29, 2019|In Budgeting, Financial Planning
I have been writing about personal finance for a long time – more than 17 years. As you can probably imagine, I’ve had the opportunity to interview countless financial experts, lots of ordinary folks who’ve shared their money journeys with me and even some big names in the world of business and finance – such as Tony Robbins and David Bach. I feel fortunate that I’ve had the opportunity to learn a lot about personal finance from these interviews.
You can imagine, though, that it might be tough to pinpoint the best money advice I’ve ever gotten in the nearly two decades I’ve spent as a financial journalist. But that’s what my friend Shannon McLay asked me to do when she recently was interviewing me for her podcast, Martinis and Your Money.
I quickly racked my brain to come up with something truly consequential – not just a clever hack. I didn’t have to think long to come up with some great advice I got a few years ago that has dramatically changed the way I think about money and has had the biggest impact on my finances.
The Advice: You Don’t Need a Budget …
You’ve probably heard this advice again and again: If you want to take control of our finances, you need a budget. The problem is, most people hate budgeting. In fact, a survey by GOBankingRates found that sticking to a budget is the biggest money challenge Americans said they face.
That’s because budgeting can feel like dieting – and we all know how diets usually turn out. People tend to lose weight then go back to their old ways, gain back the pounds they lost and then some.
Like a diet, a budget feels restrictive. You have to track your spending and figure out what to cut. If your mind works anything like mine does, you feel hungry as soon as you tell yourself you’re on a diet, and you want to go on a spending spree as soon as you tell yourself you need to cut back. So how are you supposed to take control of your finances if the key to doing so – budgeting – is so darn hard?
To continue reading, please go to the original article here:
https://cameronhuddleston.com/the-best-money-advice-ive-ever-gotten/