Be Realistic

Google ads apparently know the worst articles to suggest to me. I read yet another one about how an influencer on YouTube paid off a six-figure debt within two years, talking about budgeting and examining your spending. But yet again, at the end of the article, it clearly states “income from her brand sponsorship deals played a big part in her paying off 6-figure debt in such little time”. I absolutely will not deny that this person put in the work to create a YouTube channel, and has earned this income through the work and content that they created. But that’s not realistic for the average person; not everyone can have a YouTube channel that pays them a few hundred thousand dollars. Below I’m going to share a realistic tool that people can use, just a shared Excel spreadsheed that does the work for you.

I am paid every other week, so I can always count on two steady paychecks and I budget for only that amount. This means that on the months I receive an extra paycheck, I’m able to pay off some extra debt as well as a small reward; if I am mentally exhausted I will not make smart money choices, and by allowing myself to order dinner once or buy something realistic and small as a reward (massage, movie, shoes), it is a form of self-investment.

Here is my Simple Budget Tool. Make a copy and input your own income and Bill categories, then let the tool do the work for you. It should give you a realistic idea of how much you could spend in each of those categories. After that, think about what little changes you could make to spend less in the categories that do not matter, and more in the categories that you care about.