I’m not a budget guru…

In fact, for years I cringed at the very mention of the word budget, as I’m sure many of us do. So why am I blogging about budgeting, you ask? According to a Gallup poll conducted in June of 2013, only 32% of people surveyed use a budget. Two of the top reasons people don’t use them is because they’re confusing and they take up too much time. Like many people, I’ve been confused by different tools out there, and been stressed by trying to find the time to effectively budget when there’s so much else to do. And in my frustration, I searched for a better way. The end result is FitFin.

Going back to why only 1/3 of us budget, a lot of it has to do with time. Whether it’s perception or reality, many of us don’t have the time to sit down for hours at a time to look at spreadsheets. With FitFin, it takes seconds to create and manage a budget. We’ve all got a few seconds here and there, right?

But we also have to look at time in terms of actually remembering to do it. How many times have you heard or read something that talks about budgeting only to think: Oh, I should probably do something about that. Then you go about your day and forget. Or, you have a budget already set up and periodically think about looking at it, only to never actually do it. We all do that, right? With FitFin, you have a reason EVERY WEEK to go into your budget. Several times a week, really. That’s because we combine your budget with the best shopping list tool available. According to a poll conducted by Reader’s Digest, 84% of us use a shopping list of some kind. Again, compare the 84% of shopping list users to the 32% of people who have a budget. I know we’re comparing apples to oranges, but from a familiarity/comfort standpoint, you can see that people are more receptive to shopping lists.

And that’s exactly our angle at FitFin. If we can provide you with the best shopping list out there that will actually talk to your budget, why not give it a try? We realize that your shopping list and your budget aren’t necessarily an obvious combination, like chocolate and peanut butter, but when you think about it, their integration makes sense because they’re both part of the shopping cycle.

Need more convincing on why to try it? Here are three benefits to tying your budget with your shopping list:

1. You’ll visit your budget 3-4/week at a minimum.  The best part is that you’ll only have to look at your budget for about 10 seconds to get a clear picture of what’s going on.  That’s maybe a minute a week that you’re looking at the budget, but you’re looking at it EACH WEEK (versus looking at it rarely or never now).
2. You’re being a proactive budgeter.  You’re reviewing your budget BEFORE you go to the store, not afterwards, like with many other budgeting tools.
3. Budgeting is a by-product of using the tool.  We talk about the anxiety of budgeting.  With FitFin, since the budget is just a part of the shopping cycle, it becomes a natural part of the process.  Our hope is that just by going into FitFin several times a week as you access your shopping list, you’re seeing your budget and spending as it happens in real time and naturally, so there are no big surprises.  The big surprises tend to happen when we don’t consistently look at our spending numbers.

As I stated before, I’m not budget guru. I’m a human being with real expenses, just like you. But what I’ve found is that by keeping a close watch on where my money goes and doing it consistently, I’ve eliminated a lot of the financial stress I used to have because as problems come up, I’m better equipped to fix them. Knowledge is power, as the saying goes. FitFin gives me access to that knowledge, and I can get up to speed with things in mere seconds.

A good analogy that everyone can understand is getting into better physical shape. To do so, you have to watch what you eat and exercise on a regular basis. If you want to get in better financial shape, you want to watch what you spend, and look at your budget on a regular basis. FitFin gives you the tool to do both in a quick, natural way. If you haven’t checked it out, please go to www.fitfin.com. It’s free and it takes just seconds to sign up.

Here’s to your financial health!  And to chocolate and peanut butter!