97 – BEST OF SHOW: Is Making A Budget A Waste Of Time?

Over the summer we will be airing rebroadcasts of our most downloaded shows. Today's show features our most popular guest, and a mis-understood topic: Budgeting. It's a word that people either love or hate.

We may get mixed reviews about the advice that I share on today's episode, but for many, budgeting is a waste of time. Budgeting takes discipline, it takes time and it takes some skill to use a budgeting spreadsheet or app. Because it's difficult, for some people it can actually have a negative impact on their finances. They lose motivation or interest, and eventually discouraged, stop paying attention to their finances all together.

We are not advocating that people shouldn't manage their money, but we are suggesting that you need to find a solution that will work for you and your finances.

It's very important to know where you're spending your money because if you don't know where it goes, you can't make adjustments to pay down debt and build your savings.

Doug Hoyes is joined once again by money expert, Gail Vaz-Oxlade who is an advocate for having a system in place that will help you to pay off debt, save money and spend wisely. Gail is well known for her magic jar concept; the idea that you should allocate a specific amount of money to a number of goals (i.e. bill payments, savings, entertainment, groceries etc.) to keep yourself on track each month. Today we discuss her approach to budgeting, and the alternatives to budgeting.