The Budget Buddy System: Why You Shouldn’t Go It Alone
episode
Master Your Money: Budgeting, Saving, and Debt-Free Living
15 min
1 speaker
2 chapters
transcribed 1 month ago
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Transcript generated automatically by AI and may contain errors.
Why does Nate say you shouldn't manage money completely on your own?
Welcome to Master Your Money, budgeting, saving, and debt-free living. I'm your host, Nate Tanner. On this show, we use the Trigator philosophy to help you keep your budget balanced, build your savings and investment, and knock out debt with confidence. Let's play a little game. Raise your hand if you have ever hidden an Amazon box so your spouse wouldn't see it, say it's on sale like it magically made it free, bought something and told no one, not even your budget. If your hand isn't up, I'm not saying you're lying, but your Amazon driver probably knows the truth. The point is, when it comes to money, we tend to go it alone. We keep our finances private, our goals quiet, and our struggles locked away in a drawer labeled, I'll figure it out.
But here's what I've learned. Through my own wins, wipeouts, and a few poorly hidden prime boxes, you're more likely to succeed when you're not doing it solo. As the old African proverb goes, if you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together. That's what today's episode is all about. Why having a budget buddy can multiply your motivation. How to pick the right accountability partner. Hint, it's not your cat. What to say, what to share, and how to set it up. Plus, a challenge to take your next step with someone in your corner. Let's break the silence, crush the shame, and get better with money, together. Coming up next, I'll show you the stats, stories, and surprising benefits of having someone on your financial team.
Why you need a budget buddy. Money is one of the most important areas of your life, and yet, it is one of the most isolated. Think about it. You'll talk with a friend about that weird mole you have on your back. You'll share baby pictures with your barista. You'll ask 37 strangers on a Facebook group which air fryer to buy. But how often do we say, hey, can I talk to you about my spending plan and my emotional impulse to buy throw pillows that I don't even need? Exactly. Never. But here's the thing. Going solo slows you down, and there's research to back it up. A study from the American Society of Training and Development found that people who commit to someone else and schedule accountability check-ins increase their likelihood of reaching their goal by, wait for it, up to 95%.
That's nearly double the odds just by telling someone. A former president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Thomas S. Monson, once said, When performance is measured, performance improves. When performance is measured and reported, the rate of improvement accelerates. No magic, no spreadsheets, no finance wizardry. Just accountability. Accountability creates, first, awareness. Wait, what did I spend on pizza last week? Two, ownership. Okay, I'm not proud of that Amazon haul. Three, encouragement. You had a no-spend weekend? Nice job. Fourth, and maybe the most important, follow-through. A quick story and some psychology. There's a psychology principle called the Hawthorne effect. It says that people change their behavior when they know they're being observed.
Translation, you clean up your act when someone's watching. Don't believe me? Just think about how fast you slam on the brakes when you see a cop, even if you're going the speed limit. Or think about how fast your toddler takes their hand out of that cookie jar once you walk into the room. Here's a personal example of accountability and having a buddy in action. One thing I wanted for years, an electric drum set. I've been playing the drum since I was about 12 years old. And for years, I played my brother's set until I bought my first set at about the age of 17. I kept that set for many, many years, but after playing a high-end electronic set, I fell in love. That desire hit overdrive when I had to sell the only drum set I'd ever owned after a move.
My quest for an electronic set continued, but for years on end, somehow my drum savings always seemed empty. One day, after I had had several personal finance breakthroughs, I printed out a thermometer with a picture of my drums, and as I would tuck money away, I would fill it in.
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Chapters
2 chaptersSpeakers
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