We have talked about the statistics on employment for individuals with disabilities. A large portion of the community either is unemployed or underemployed. Thus leading to the unfortunate state of being really low on cash. One tool to help with the situation is budgeting. Budgeting, has got a pretty bad rep. I know when I used to think about budgeting thought about it as the same as dieting. Instead of depriving yourself of yummy food, it is depriving yourself of all the fun stuff you want to do in life. However, a truly effective budget is actually the exact opposite. It is about making sure that you have enough money to do the things that are most important to you.
What Is A budget?
A budget does not have to be complicated. You don’t need to have exceptional math skills or a degree in money management. It simply keeps track of two things. Firstly how much money comes in & out of your account and secondly where your money was earned & spent. That is it!
Why Create A Budget:
Like I said before the point of the budget is not to deprive yourself of the things you really want. A budget helps a person understand their financial situation and prioritize what is most important. What does it mean to understand your financial situation? It is basically what you can afford and when can you afford it.The truth is that there is always something to buy. Sometimes those items may be actually very important, but if you don’t know your financial situation you can land in some pretty hot water.
Let’s use a simple example. Jill gets paid $100 a week. At the beginning of the week, she can spend either $50 on groceries and get 1 week’s worth of food or she can buy in bulk and for $100 get 3 weeks worth of food. Seems like a no brainer spend $100. Let’s pretend Jill spends the $100. In the middle of the week she is driving to work and realizes the car is low on gas. Now she has no money to buy gas and she needs to drive to work to in order to earn next week’s paycheque. Jill was not irresponsible, she wasn’t getting useless stuff like expensive handbag or a luxury car, she was getting food. She did not understand her financial situation and wasn’t able to know what she could or could not afford.
The second benefit of a budget is it forces you to prioritize what is important to you. Say you want to go out to eat at McDonald’s vs staying at home and cooking dinner. It can be really difficult to pick staying at home, especially if you are hungry in the moment. However, it can be a lot easier to make the decision when you know that skipping Mc Donald’s today allows you to save up to afford a dinner at a fancy restaurant at the end of the month. A budget helps you to see not only what your money can do now but also what you money can do in the future.