What's The Point of Budgeting in this Economy?
Inflation rates are up. Income not so much, but hey, at least everyone's anxiety is also up.
When we were in school, we were clearly not prepared to handle the adult life crisis. It was all about photosynthesis and memorizing World War dates, and let's not forget to make sure our handwriting is readable.
Although these topics were not completely useless, knowledge is important. Imagine the betrayal felt when you walk out of schools and universities, only to realize no one wants to know which battle took place in which year. They don't even care about whether your handwriting is legible. It's about how fast you can type.
But the biggest shock is realizing that the news reports on economies and how current world events are affecting them were not boring white noise after all.
Turns out if someone says the economy isn't doing great and inflation rates are high, it affects you.
You barely notice it at first. It's a boring article in the financial section of the news, after all.
But when you walk into a grocery store and see the slight hike in prices, that's when it hits you. The world around you is evolving. It's not as stable as you thought when you were inside the walls of a classroom.
A slight hike isn't much to rattle you yet.
Months later, when you begin to pay double of what you used to pay just for groceries, mind you, that's when you get your breath taken away.
New taxes, new rules, new price surges.
And your income? It's coming in slowly, too slowly to keep up with the pace.
That's when you sit yourself down and begin to budget. Do you really need an extra mug in your house when you have no social life? Do you really need to buy that expensive toothpaste?
And that daily coffee at a cafe? That's the first thing to be omitted. From now on, it's instant coffee. You've already developed a taste for it.
For a while, you feel like you have excelled at adulting. You've mastered the art of budgeting. Things are going great. You even manage to save a little every month. You pride yourself on being a responsible adult who is already planning what to do with your savings.
That's when another political news hit. Inflation rates have now risen a little bit more. The percentage at first glance seems really small. But your next trip to the store makes your heart skip a beat.
Did you really think your favorite cookies were just going to go up by one buck? It's almost 5 bucks more. Sugar tax? When did they start applying taxes?
You run to the other aisle, and yes, soap is more expensive, too. Cereal is a lot more. You may have to switch brands, or maybe gasp, give it up.
At least a bottle of water is the same price. For now.
So...what's the point of budgeting?
Things are happening way too quickly around us. One minute, we are planning a family vacation, and the next, someone loses their job. Bills can no longer be paid. Vacations are canceled. If you're lucky, you get a refund.
An item you used daily has already tripled in price. You're standing in by the grocery shelves, unable to breathe, the world spinning around you because you can see a bleak future where you run out of money and can't even afford to buy a slice of bread.
But that's when careful budgeting saves the day!
The whole point of creating a budget is to understand that the world around you is changing every moment. The political climate is volatile. Trade deals are being rewritten. Tariffs are being hiked. The amount we use every month to pay all bills may no longer be enough. Our savings get smaller. If we can invest, we run the risk of blocking an amount that we may require later for emergencies.
A good budget will help you stay within spending limits and save a larger portion of your income, enough to survive.
A bad budget will let you spend all your savings on a very expensive cup of coffee that doesn't even taste that great.
Budgeting isn't going to stop the world from spinning out of control, but it might just be the only thing keeping you from spinning with it.
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