What happens if I blow my budget?

A question I get a lot is: I made a budget and then we had something come up, and I don't know what to do.

The advice I always give maybe sounds oversimplified but it is the truth: you have to change your budget.

Accept that things are going to change

 You didn't go out and find a mountain and etch your budget into a rock. It's written in pencil and paper. It's on a spreadsheet. It's in an app. It is changeable.

 Budgets are living things. Money is often fluid, and life is unexpected and things change. So if in the middle of your month, you have an unexpected expense pop up, you got to cash flow it. You got to go back in and you got to rework that budget. Maybe that means you have to put off some goals. Maybe that means you have to rework your debt payoff. But you can go back and adjust your budget at any time.

 Don't use "but things always come up" as an excuse not to budget and not to stick with a budget.

 Don't make excuses

 There are lots of reasons why you might not stick to a budget. There are lots of reasons why your budget might not be working. And there's lots of life that can happen. But when you're constantly looking for an out, you will find one.

 Excuses get you nothing. They don't get money in the bank. They don't get money in your retirement. They don't move the needle on your debt payoff. They get you nowhere. You just ultimately end up disappointed with yourself.

Get up

If you fall down and make a mistake, you just get up, reconfigure things, and keep going. If you were riding your bicycle and you fell off, you would not lay in a ditch until someone came to help you, unless you were injured. Get up and ride home.

 If you messed up, fix it. If you messed up, figure out what happened, what set you off, what triggered you, where the mistake was made, fix it, and keep going.

We all make mistakes. I still make a ton of budgeting mistakes. I forget to add things. I overspend in one category. I let myself buy things to make myself feel better. We all do these things. We just have to course-correct and keep going.