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Creating a budget is like creating boundaries in your life. 

Boundaries are a good thing. They keep you in a range of behavior that gives stability and protection. 

When you let others impede on your boundaries, you are disrespecting yourself. You’re not staying true to the promises you made to yourself. 

Creating a budget is very similar. It’s your financial boundaries. 

It shows that you respect yourself enough to create a plan for your future. 

A budget isn’t a prison. It’s a guiding post. You are setting the boundaries on your spending just like you set other boundaries in your life.

Stop associating a budget with something negative. 

It’s actually a tool that helps you become aware of your spending and provides the ability to get control of your spending. 

Its job isn’t to stop your spending. It’s for you to become aware of how much you’re spending. You are the author of your budget. You control how much is spent where. 

A budget doesn’t take away control, it empowers you.

If you’ve heard of the FIRE (Financially Independent Retire Early) movement, you know the most loyal individuals save at least 25% of their income, and some save up to 50%. 

Can you imagine keeping 50% of your paycheck? 

Can you imagine how fast your balances would grow if you invested this much every paycheck? 

These individuals calculate how quickly they can retire if they invest this intensely for the next so many years. 

This is their vision – to retire as soon as possible. They go all in to make this happen. I’m not asking you to be this intense, but it is inspiring to hear their stories.

They can only retire early if they create a plan to have enough money at a future date. This begins with creating a budget. The nuts and bolts of the budget come down to your two levers: income and expenses.