Plan versus execution

Scott had a friend pass away recently and was involved in sorting through the belongings she left behind. She was a marketer’s dream! She had every “as seen on TV” item you can imagine – in addition to every workout video, energy powder and cleaning accessory that ever hit the market – all still in their original packaging.

My first thought was, “how much did she spend on all these things she never used?” My second thought – “Did she somehow believe that just by buying these products she’d be more fit, have more energy or a cleaner home?”

We’ve all done this, to some degree – bought a product or service with the best intentions of using it to better our lives – but in the end it just sits on our shelves, gathering dust. The question is, are we aware of it? Do we admit the truth – we just didn’t have the motivation we thought, when it came down to it – or do we blame the product? “It’s not what I expected,” “It’s too hard,” “It didn’t work (but no, I didn’t follow the directions!)”

I hear so many people say, “I tried budgeting, but it didn’t work for me.” What a bummer! I can’t imagine life without my budget and I wish everyone could experience the same benefits and sheer joy I get out of it.

I can’t pretend to know why it didn’t work for each individual person, but what I find, many times, when I pose the question, is that they created a plan but never executed it. This is like putting together the lineup for a baseball game, but never playing the game.

Creating a plan is just one of the steps in my 5-step budgeting process. I call it a process, because it’s ongoing. The process never ends, just as life never ends. And because life is always changing, so is your budget.

So if you’re not ready to make budgeting a regular part of your life, don’t waste your time trying to put together a plan! But if you’ve got a financial goal that you’re truly ready to work toward, there’s no better tool to help you achieve it than a budget!

It works, if you work it!