If we are honest, there are only a few people out of a hundred that create a family budget and actually follow it.

The vast majority of Americans have the feeling that if they work hard for their money, they should have the freedom to spend a portion of it without feeling guilty or having to account for every penny.

So instead of calling it a budget, think of it as a financial game plan.

Maxwell’s Leadership Law of the Scoreboard states “The Team can make adjustments if it knows where it stands.” Simply put, you have to have a benchmark, a starting point if you are going to be able to know how you’re doing on your path to debt freedom and financial independence.

Without it, you are playing a losing game. You can’t have a plan of where you want to go if you don’t have an idea of where you’re at right now.

A good way to measure where you stand is to list your assets (this should be growing) in one column and your liabilities or debt (which is hopefully shrinking) in another column, place the date at the top, put it aside and then do the same thing again in six months. You can then compare it to the last one you completed to see if you are making progress or falling behind.

The hardest step for most people is writing down a complete list of debts. It is an acknowledgement in black and white of the reality of your situation. It points out where all the income is really going and how much or how little is left at the end of the month. It’s a catalyst for change – because once you see how you are really spending your money, you will most likely get mad at yourself and want to change things around by getting back in control and taking charge of your money instead of letting your money control you.

Ask any athlete how they became a success in life and they will tell you they had a dream, a goal and a plan. Then they followed it. The only way you will achieve concrete results with your finances it to always have and follow a game plan.

Here are some of the common denominators, according to George Boelke:
• Know specifics and details
• Always do it in writing
• Have a concrete timeline for getting it done
• Know your game-plan for achieving your goals
• Stick to your plan, no matter what
• Stay focused on the plan and be committed to it every day. Don’t lose sight of the goal line.

There will be times when you say to yourself that the five dollars you are about to spend is “no big deal”, but done often and compounded over time, it’s a very big deal and equates to a lot of money.

Head on over to the forum to give your ideas for budgeting!

Karen blogs about her daily life as a homeschooling mom of three at Simply a Musing Blog when she’s not helping folks with their finances.

(photo credits: cohdra and source)