Until recently it appeared as though everyone was trying to out do everyone else, trying to impress people they didn't really care about all in an effort to "keep up with the Joneses.
" People were going all out buying more house than they needed.
They bought houses with no money down.
If they wanted to live a better lifestyle than they could afford they they would just go out and borrow against their home with a home equity loan or line of credit.
Heck, the value of a home can only get better, right? You know what happened next.
The housing market took a nose dive and sucked the life right out of the rest of the economy.
So what is the good news? The pressure to "keep up with the Joneses" is no more.
As a matter of fact, frugality is now hip.
Record traffic is being seen at coupon clipping websites, and high end stores are struggling.
That being said, it really shouldn't matter what others think and it certainly shouldn't have an affect on your spending habits - but most of the time it does.
Just a few years ago you were looked down upon if you didn't live in a million dollar home or sport a new Tahoe.
Now who is the genius.
Budgeting on a monthly basis is the best way for you to gain control of your money.
In order for you to win with your money you must take action and devise a plan.
If done properly, a budget will allow you to understand the true impact of every spending decision and how much will be left over to be able to save, invest, pay off debt, have fun with, and give.
Until you actually physically right out a budget on paper prior to each and every month, and know where each of your dollars is going, your your money will not behave and will continue to slip through the cracks.