Shannon Lee Simmons

What's coming in, what's going out and then what you're not, then you save what's left over or you save first and then spend what's left over.

Obviously I'm a fan of limits, but I don't even like the word budgeting.

And the reason is I feel like it sounds like diet, people immediately eye roll.

And I think that the word comes with a lot of baggage because so many people have failed at budgeting over the years.

And so they feel like that's not a thing I can do.

And I'm not going to do it.

I hate money and I hate budgeting.

But really what they're saying is like, I've tried so many times and it didn't like work out for me or it felt too constricted or I didn't like the way it felt.

And I think that's because of the way that traditional budgeting has been promoted and what's out there, which is you download a spreadsheet or you get an app, you cut your life into 50 different categories.

You need pants and coffee shops and utilities and like miscellaneous shopping, which is my favorite.

Hey bud, want to go for some miscellaneous shopping today?

But anyways, it's like the catch-all.

And then what we do is so punishing.

So we just think about that exercise in itself.

It's so riddled with guilt and shame.

Like, oh, you know that feeling.

Then you try to say, okay, I'm going to project out what I'm going to spend so that I can be within my budget.

But you do it with like 50 different categories.

So you're like, I'm going to spend this much on groceries and this much on coffee shops and this much on Uber and this much here and this much here and this much here on kids' presents and all that kind of stuff.

And then you're like, you go to bed, you feel so responsible.