We decided to ask Veronica for an interview after she had been using our budget template for awhile, which you can get for free by subscribing to our blog. In this interview, you will see how procrastinating can cost you money when you don’t start doing a budget sooner rather than later.
Tell us a little bit about yourself.
My name is Veronica. I am 60-years-old. I have been married for 39 years. We have 3 boys; well now they’re men. And 3 wonderful daughter-in-laws.
What do you do for a living?
I’m a Client Account Manager for a vision company. I’m looking at retiring after working with my company for 29 years.
What made you decide to start doing a budget?
I have always had the desire to have some kind of structure to my spending but could never get it together. When I was introduced to the budget and decided to give it a try I knew it was exactly what I needed. After the first month, I could not believe how much money we were able to save.
Now that you’re budgeting, do you feel like you make more money than you thought you made?
Most definitely! Knowing how every penny is spent gives us a better understanding of how to manage it. For example, when we go to our favorite store (Home Depot) we would usually pick up little things that we feel we could use instead of just what we really need. Budgeting helps to keep us focused.
Do you feel more restricted by the budget or do you feel more free?
Absolutely very free. It relieves the stress of the unknown. Yes, things can happen that might not be in the budget, but having something set aside for a “rainy day” helps in those times. And with the budget, you are able to save more aggressively for those “rainy days”.
Now that you’re budgeting, do you feel like you and your spouse are better at communicating with regards to finances?
Great question. Normally we would just go about doing our own thing and spending money without any sense of direction. But now we talk about it and we are both conscious of how we spend. Just yesterday, I took my car in for an oil change and was told that the brake pads are wearing and will need changing soon. My hubby without hesitation told them we will take care of it on the next service since it was not in this month’s budget…….Yeah!! He is getting converted. Hahaha!
What advice would you give to someone who isn’t doing a budget, but is thinking about it?
Don’t procrastinate. Get into doing a budget. It is freeing and you are in control of your money. You feel like you have money (not just a feeling for me, but that’s the best I can explain it). I can’t understand but I have more money now that I’m doing a budget although I’m making the same amount of money.
Our Thoughts: Veronica and her husband are a good example of although they started doing a budget later in life, it’s still beneficial. However, procrastinating with doing a budget can and will cost you money. Take their advice…
Nice post. I need to start budgeting. We only have one income and the bill are just to much. I’m trying yo monetize my blog but is way to dificult.
As hard as it may be its imperative that you do a budget especially in your situation. You need to get the most out of the dollars that are coming in. Then once your blog starts making money(stick with it!) you’ll be in an even better spot. Veronica didn’t start budgeting until her 60s but still became a millionaire. She told me her biggest regret with money is that she didn’t start sooner. If she did start sooner she admits she would have been a multi-millionaire.
I live on a variable income. Prior to learning to budget properly, I never felt sure if I could spend safely. I would either spend without thought or would save every cent. Either way I still stressed about money all the time. Once I learned about zero-based budgeting it changed the game entirely. Now I know to set aside money each month for upcoming bills and save extra for the lean months with no income. I don’t need to spend on the cc and pay it off later, I save now and spend from the budget. So freeing and the stress is mostly gone. What an amazing difference!! I’ve also cash flowed a few major things, because I had foresight to sock money away each money. Thanks for the interview. It was a good perspective.
You just mentioned something that I haven’t really even thought much about considering our income isn’t variable – it’s definitely important to make sure you’re doing a budget properly if you have a variable income because most of the time no 2 months are alike. And regardless of your income you’re still going to have to pay your bills. I’m always amazed when I hear someone talk about how freeing doing a budget is and how much it cuts back on stress. I’m glad that doing a budget has worked out so well for you!