On the intersection of finances and personality

I'm blessed. I come from a family with a humble income. My mother was a stay-at-home mom until she got a part-time job during my teen years to help support two teenage daughters and an infant son. My dad retired from the US military's enlisted ranks and then worked various jobs to make ends meet. I joined the military for a short enlistment, then married and stayed at home.

That is where my budgeting journey began. Even though that marriage ended badly, he did make me learn the basics of budgeting. I kept a simple monthly budget using a pen and notebook and practiced the discipline of logging spent amounts to compare to his income.

Through the years that notebook method did drop away. I've used Mint and

YNAB but have circled back to a spreadsheet that I customized for the way I see finances. I do highly recommend you check both resources out, they might work well for you.

Why did I choose to make my own? This is where the intersection of finances and personality come into play. Because the thought patterns of how transactions are logged in various programs don't follow how I see my finances. Also, the way they track debt and progress toward financial goals just didn't make sense to me. I know YNAB works for some people, but I got frustrated because my brain wouldn't get with the program. Because my brain (ok, maybe my ego) wouldn't cooperate, the annual subscription cost for programs didn't make financial sense - I was spending money to fail at my goals.

Now I know what works for me, I'm able to compare and contrast how others manage money. When the psychology factor is thrown in it's a fascinating topic that could go on for an entire novel. Risk takers? Conservative minded? Entrepreneurs? Blue collar worker? White collar worker? Independent artists? Cultural norms passed down from your parents? That last is absolutely fascinating too. I always wonder if I'd survive long-term in a country like Japan or India where credit cards are not the norm. I'm so used to having a backup source of funding via credit cards that it would be a psychological reset for me to live without one.

I'm on a mission to find out if I can function without credit cards. I'll post my spreadsheet for sale in my store soon. If you've tried various budgeting methods but they don't work, feel free to give mine a try. It will be a one-time purchase, and I'll have a tutorial available to guide you through how it works.