Budgeting is much like growing up. It's stepping away from the child who doesn't think gravity exists, and becoming the adult that knows putting on a cape will not help you jump off a three story building and fly. Everyone longs to remain the carefree children that we once were. We want to think we're invincible and that our lives will play out like a movie. Children live in a world apart from reality. They go about their day wearing their own pair of rose-colored glasses that only let them see what they want to see. Never the harshness of reality.
So what stops children from landing in the hospital when they think they can survive jumping off a train like the classic train robbery movies? Well, either they have someone looking out for them and telling them when they should rethink things, or they do land themselves in the emergency room. They need someone to monitor their actions or they will hurt themselves. Most people come to terms with the fact that gravity does exist because independence introduces the need to survive.
When it comes to budgeting, however, people aren't so lucky. If you don't learn to budget, you won't end up in the emergency room the same as refusing the existence of gravity would. The subtlety in the harm that a lack of budgeting can do is the most dangerous part of all. There is no threat to one's life that causes people to take off their rose-colored glasses. So why would they?
One can live a life of spending and borrowing in ignorance to the long-term effects of their habits, or one can face the reality that becoming financially secure is a long and grueling process. The former option leaves individuals happily ignorant to what is going on, so long as bankruptcy doesn't startle and surprise them. The latter option leaves individuals aware of everything that is going on; the dreams that (with some work) can become a reality, as well as the setbacks that can come from past financial decisions.
Only one of these options will lead, eventually, to better living and more security. The other will only remain in ignorance until, eventually, the worst happens. So why would anyone choose to remain ignorant? Because once you become aware of what is happening with your money, you can't go back to ignorance. You can sit in your mess and let it grow, but you can't pretend it's not there anymore. Most people never seek to understand what kind of mess they have, because they don't want to face the point of no return of having the burden of knowledge.
So which do you choose?
Do you wish to remain ignorant to a mess that will only keep growing until it's so messy it can't be ignored? Or do you wish to recognize the mess that you're in and start cleaning it up, however slow a process it may be?
I'll tell you what, there are some days I wish I still have those rose-colored glasses on. But then I remember, that despite the work involved in cleaning up the mess of debt...I remember I have something to look forward to. We're working towards a better financial future, and if I had remained ignorant our dreams would either only remain dreams or those dreams coming true would have become our downfall.
Find a financial dream you want bad enough. Then, budgeting and knowing what's going on with your money will always be worth it. Even in the setbacks. Because the reality is, those setbacks would have occurred whether you are budgeting or not. But since you're budgeting, those setbacks are only setbacks...they're not steps that move you closer to financial downfall.
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