How to Fix Your Budget Problem (It’s Not Discipline)
episode
Wealthy After 40: Retirement Planning and Budgeting for Gen X
15 min
1 speaker
3 chapters
transcribed 1 month ago
Transcript
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Transcript generated automatically by AI and may contain errors.
Why isn't more discipline the solution to budget slip-ups?
If you've ever thought, why can't I just stick to this budget? You're not alone. Most women blame discipline for every financial hiccup, but discipline is actually the least helpful thing in your toolkit. Your systems, your clarity, and your values, not your willpower, are what determine your success. Today, I'm going to show you why more discipline isn't the answer and what actually is. Hey there and welcome to Wealthy After 40. I'm Dailene Higgins, your podcast host and financial coach. If you're a Gen X woman or couple who's worried about retirement, maybe you feel like you're starting late or don't have enough saved. you're in the right place. This show is all about ditching the financial stress and creating a retirement plan that works for your life now and later.
So grab your favorite drink, settle in and let's figure this out together. Welcome to the episode. I'm excited to dive into the idea of discipline. That's where we're going to start off. And you already budget, and for you, it's working well most of the time. But once in a while, you find yourself with a hiccup. You find yourself a little overspent, and you're not quite clear the reason why. Or you're like, oh, yes, I had the splurge because it was my daughter's birthday. I just need more discipline. I hear it a lot. I hear it a lot from clients, those on free calls. And honestly, it's not discipline that is going to correct the problem. You think internally you're not cut out for this and that you're the problem.
And so you want to jump into discipline. So for this episode, I actually looked up the definition of discipline, which I'm going to read to you. It's from Webster's. It's quite interesting. The definition of discipline is the practice of training people to obey rules or a code of behavior with punishment or other undesired consequences for those failing to comply. You know what? We need to stop telling ourselves we need more discipline. That's not what we want.
But
Too many people already think budgets are restrictive. And then if we say we just need discipline so that we can follow this rule, we can just obey and do these certain things. And that I think is underlying whether you knew that's the definition or not. You're like, ah, yeah. But are you also saying that's not really what I'm saying? I just need to be more strict about it. Disciplined. That's what I mean. All right, there's a lot of people who think they just need more discipline to be able to save consistently or follow a budget. However, discipline alone isn't going to fix inconsistent spending, which has a multitude of underlying reasons why it's happening, emotional splurges, that's something different, discipline's not going to fix that, or any unclear goals, whether that's retirement or current.
We have to have those things in place. Discipline isn't going to make those things better. The real solution is creating a plan, a money plan, a budget, however you want to define that, that aligns with your life, your values, and your financial priorities, not self-punishment. Okay, so why isn't discipline enough? First off, we don't like the definition. At least I don't. I don't think somebody should approach money with that idea. But discipline isn't going to work if your systems aren't working, if they're not complete, and you haven't created the specific habits that align with your dreams. Now, let's talk about that for a quick minute. Habits. Habits come from skills. We learn skills and then these skills become habits.
That's what we want. That's not discipline. Without clarity and structure, even smart, motivated women are going to be stressed, off track, and second guessing their decisions. And if this is, you're going to be second guessing your ability. You're thinking, I'm not good with money. I can't figure this out. I'm not good with numbers. You start second guessing your ability. This misaligned approach is going to lead to wasted time, lost money, the delay in you reaching retirement freedom. And discipline alone, discipline at all, is not going to help you create the strategy, the steps, that willingness to be able and that knowing to move forward.
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Chapters
3 chaptersSpeakers
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