Budgets

Budgets

The other day I was visiting with my very good friends Jeff and Sondra. We had begun talking about how expensive it was to own a car or even the cost of an apartment in certain parts of New York City. I mentioned something about how I am getting so good with a budget that I can still get mileage out of a penny. Truthfully, after many years of trial and error I finally figured out how to budget myself.

Once upon a time I earned a good salary but like anyone else I wanted more. More things, more stuff, thinking that more was better or that more would make me happy.

Most homeless people don't budget themselves very well when they do have money in their pockets. This is even true of the folks on the street who receive a monthly income from Social Security. The trick is learning to be happy with what you have which many people don't seem capable of doing. Of course having a drinking or drug problem certainly doesn't help.

There is a fellow who lives near me who receives a monthly SSI payment. He has his beer and weed. He gets his food and somehow at the end of each month he still has cash left over. He gets it. He worked out what works for him and he sticks to it.

After 10 years of not having any income to speak of, I learned to budget what money I did have. In the beginning it was budgeting enough to support my addictions yet have enough for cigarettes and food. Later as time went on and my addictions were being dealt with I learned to budget for all the things I needed and to prioritize which supplies were most important and which could wait or be done without altogether.

More is not always better. Nor is just having stuff better. Once you budget necessities the rest will follow. Being happy with what you have is not hard as long as you avoid the temptation of keeping up with the guy next door with all his stuff.