Where does it go?
Monday, May 4, 2015
Recently my wife and I decided it was high time to take complete control of our financial lives. Between the two of us we earn a modest income that allows us to live comfortably. But we found ourselves constantly asking each other "where did all the money go"?! We both work hard for our incomes. Kelly works multiple contracts as a medical marketer and helps out at TSC CrossFit as much as possible. I manage to split time between the fire department, Pin Up CrossFit and TSC CrossFit. At the end of the day or week we often find ourselves exhausted from the early mornings, late evenings and constant running around. I've always thought of myself as a good money manager but was starting to worry that all our hard work was just being piddled away.
We sat down together and formulated a plan. We enrolled in the "Financial Peace University" by Dave Ramsey, created a budget, cut some frivolous spending and committed to taking control. While we're still working out the kinks of the budget and are only about halfway through the FPU, I feel in control. I feel like I know where our money is going. I feel like we get to tell our money what to do instead of it dictating what we get to do. It's a good feeling.
While going through this process with our financial lives, it dawned on me that maybe this wasn't the only area of my life that needed "budgeting." Often times I get overwhelmed by how much there is to do and how little time there is to do it. Maybe my "time" needed to be budgeted differently too? This one is clearly a work in progress as there are many more variables and fewer tangible items to create my budget with, but I feel it's equally as important.
I've started small, creating a daily "time budget" if you will. It starts with priorities. What is most important for me to accomplish today? What can go by the wayside if I run out of time? Typically my priority list looks something like this...
1. Family time. With the addition of Grace to our family, it as important now as ever. I typically arrange my day so that I am able to spend time with Kelly and Grace in a substantial chunk. Sometimes this means early in the day, sometimes in the evening when we all get home.
2. Work. We have to make money to support our families. My schedule with the fire department is set. I know it months ahead of time so it's easy for me to plan around this. My schedule at the gyms is always changing! I make sure to schedule one-on-one clients to maximize my time at the gyms and do my best to avoid idle time where I'm not productive with what time doing.
3. Workout. This is the tough one. Typically work (gym stuff...think accounting, cleaning, emailing, planning, programming, etc.) tries to spill into my workout time. Sometimes I let it get out of hand and it take over my workout time. I'm working on it. But I don't allow myself to say "I didn't have time to workout today." Instead I use the statement "I didn't make working out a priority today." Try it...it puts a whole new spin on "I didn't have time."
4. The rest - home improvement, lawn care, socializing, errands, etc. Typically I try to pick one or more of these and include them on my daily time budget. The key is to make sure you are realistic - only put items on your list that you can actually accomplish. This way disappointment is avoided.
Do you budget your time and/or money or do you often ask yourself "where does it go? "
