Where Did My Money Go? Where did my money go? That is a question I believe that most of us ask ourselves when we can’t withdrawal not even 20 dollars from our bank accounts several days before our next paycheck. From that point before receiving our next paycheck the few remaining funds that are available is budgeted with extreme caution and calculation. Unfortunately, this is a cycle that most of us repeat with the mindset that this is normal.  This type of behavior shows that we only budget when we are under extreme financial stress, because we don’t have the funds to spend as we did when we initially received our paycheck. Common sense would suggest that budgeting is a skill set, if applied properly would resolve this problem.   Take the Emotion Out of Budgeting Emotion is probably the most important factor in being a successful budgeter. As discussed in the entitlement podcast, if you don’t have a plan for your money there are external forces that have a plan for it, and also the value received is far less than you paid for.  The act of budgeting requires logic.  The left side of our brain which provides the logic is turned up, and our right side of the brain which provides our creativity has to be turned down.   Why should I want to be a great budgeter? The principal objective of being a great budgeter is managing our expenses to where it doesn’t consume 50% of our income. Although an aggressive objective this is the target to aim for in efforts to have as much disposable income available to accumulate income producing assets. This objective of 50% expense to income ratio will be discussed in detail in our podcast “What is your number”? In summary budgeting is an exercise that should be completely left without emotion.   The post Budgeting Nothing Natural To It appeared first on The Mike and Cliff Show.