Why do we stick to budgets at work but not at home? Thoughts on the discomfort I felt after talking about household budget management, inspired by "Packn's Way of Growing Money"
A conversation one day | The story of household budget management that was called "amazing"
The other day, I was chatting with a manager at work.
In the middle of talking about work, the topic of "household budget management" suddenly came up.
I manage our household budget using an app.
I set a budget for each category,
and we try to live within those limits every month.
When I told them that,
the person looked a bit surprised and said this.
"That's amazing."
But I felt a little strange about it.
Because for me, it was no longer anything special.
The discomfort I felt | Household budget management I thought was common sense
I use an app called "Money Forward ME".
When you link your bank accounts and credit cards,
it summarizes the flow of money almost automatically.
On top of that,
・Food expenses
・Daily necessities
・Entertainment expenses
・Special expenses
I set a budget for each of these categories,
and I organize our monthly household budget.
This is something I learned by reading various books, but in the book I read recently by Patrick Harlan,
"Packn's Way of Growing Money",
household budget management using an app was also introduced.
At that time, I thought,
"Ah, I knew this method was the right one."
When I told the manager that story, they said this:
"I only have a rough idea of my household finances. I don't even keep a household account book."
At that moment, Dad felt a slight sense of discomfort.
Lessons from 'Puckn's Way of Growing Money' | First, know the flow of money
From 'Puckn's Way of Growing Money', Dad learned that,
before trying to increase money,
it is important to first 'know the flow of money'.
Knowing your income and expenses,
and understanding what you are spending and how much.
It teaches us that this is the first step to protecting our money.
Before talking about complicated investments,
the first step is to 'visualize' it.
That left a very strong impression on me.
It also introduced ways to manage household finances using apps and the like,
and I felt once again that the method Dad has been using was not wrong.
Corporate budget management vs. household management | What Dad realized
That was the reason why Dad felt a sense of discomfort.
One of the jobs of a person in charge at a company is managing the department's budget.
At a company, there are budgets for every item, such as:
・Personnel costs
・Equipment costs
・Expenses
and so on.
The person in charge operates the department within that budget.
And they also report on it at meetings every month.
Since Dad has also been in a position of responsibility before,
I understand that difficulty well.
If you exceed the budget at a company,
profits decrease, and the money available to spend decreases.
But, I suddenly thought.
Companies and personal household finances should be the same,
in the sense of 'managing money'.
We manage strictly at work,
yet we manage our own money in a vague way.
I felt a little strange about that.
Household finances are the same.
If you don't manage them,
the money you can use for yourself,
and the money you can use with your family will decrease.
That is precisely why
I thought it was very important to know the flow of money.
To my children: Money is a tool to build a rich life
To you both.
Dad manages the household finances using an app called 'Money Forward ME'.
But you don't have to use the same one.
Another app is fine too.
What's important is
'knowing your own money properly'.
I don't want you to have a life where you think too much about money
and become tied down by it.
But I also don't want you to have a life
where you handle money without any real thought.
Money is a tool to make your lives richer.
That is why
I want you to manage it correctly,
so that you can use it with peace of mind.
If you do that,
I believe your lives will surely become freer and richer.
That is what Dad hopes for.
That was
'Why do we stick to budgets at work but not at home? Thoughts on the discomfort I felt after talking about household management, inspired by 'Packn's Way of Growing Money''
.
The end.
To you both
— Book Letter Dad (HondaYori Papa)
* The ideas behind this article and
how to approach money and household management learned from books
are summarized on the blog 'Book Letters from Dad'.
👉 Blog: Book News from Dad
* The article that inspired this post can be found here:
👉Summary and Thoughts on 'Packn's Way of Growing Money' | 'How to Use Money to Help Your Future Self'
* This discussion is part of a theme called 'Living with Money'.
By reading these as a connected series rather than isolated points,
you can deepen your understanding of how to think about money without being swayed by anxiety.
👉 Read articles on how to approach money
* I have also documented the 7 themes that I value as a dad on my blog.
👉 Read the 'Map of 7 Lessons' that I have learned
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