The celebration of the New Year never really made a lot of sense to me. Like Christmas, it’s essentially just a celebration held on an arbitrary date, but unlike Christmas, the New Year’s celebration is purely a celebration of an arbitrary date. New Year’s Day is another day, just like New Year’s Eve, except that there’s just a bit more “day” to it. Given that, I’m not really prone to making New Year’s Resolutions. After all, if you see a need for something to change, why change it on that day instead of some other day?
So, it’s with a little bit of shame that I announce my resolution for this year.
It will come as no surprise to my readers (all two or three of whom know me very well outside of my blog) that I’m not the most responsible financial manager.
I’ve done better since graduating college and getting a “real” job, but that’s like saying Alaska is warmer than absolute zero. Technically true, but that doesn’t change the fact that Alaska is still darn cold. Because the improvement in my financial management was mostly superficial — I wasn’t missing payments, but I wasn’t paying much above what I absolutely needed to, and I occasionally made the mistake of thinking “due dates” were simply friendly suggestions — my financial health hasn’t really improved that much.
I’ve taken stock lately, and I’m very disappointed in myself for the way I’ve allowed myself to be as irresponsible as I have been. So, starting with the New Year, I’m going on a budget.
Why wait, you ask? Well, My next paycheck comes on December 31st, so the actual budgeting will start then. Also, I really haven’t been waiting. I worked out a formal budget a couple of weeks ago, but some bills were coming due that needed paid then (and, thus, I had to pay more than the half that my budget called for me to set aside from that paycheck). The budget for that particular paycheck, therefore, was a little less structured than the budget for paychecks from here on out.
That, combined with my habit of deciding to clean up my finances without ever really doing anything, has had a couple of family members rolling their eyes whenever I mention my budget. They’re right to do so, actually. Knowing me, I suspect fear that this budget will end up much like my new bike. I’ll use it a couple of times, and then put it aside while I go back to the way things were. I’m big on knowing what needs to be done, but not so much on following through with doing it.