Remember July’s post on The Budget Pie? Here is the second of three detailed posts about The Budget Pie … The Present. If you missed the first slice of the pie, check out The Past and The Future.
Here is The Budget Pie to remind you …
Back in July’s post I left the present for last so that is the topic for this post.
The present is what you need to spend right this minute to get through your daily routine and all of your extras. This category is your groceries, gas for your car/transportation costs, and clothes. Your extras are eating out, the dessert that calls your name as you walk through the grocery store, that fancy purse that your girlfriend just bought and now you must have too … anything that isn’t a monthly expense but you spend money on right now is your present spending!
The present is full of questions which is why the present is so hard to look at in my opinion. Some present questions are … Do you need it? Do you have money for it? Why are you buying this? What would happen if you didn’t buy it?
Sometimes limits work good for the present. We like limits like eating out once a month is a limit we have used. We will only use cash for some purchases. If we don’t have cash, it doesn’t happen. That makes some decisions really easy!! We also have a limit to what we will spend without asking each other. If a purchase is over that limit, we wait and ask. If it can’t wait then we must not need it.
When you think about the present, don’t be afraid of the questions and also don’t be afraid of admitting something really isn’t need right now.
The Present finishes the details of The Budget Pie but don’t fret this won’t be the last post about The Budget Pie! We have noticed all of the keyword searches for “The Budget Pie” so we will keep talking about it. Feel free to leave us questions and comments as we want to make sure we are answering them!
I need to go back and read the other pieces. I really need to work on present spending though. I often through caution to the wind for that moment of satisfaction.