Hard things don’t get done.

While we may start things with the best intention, if there are too many obstacles in the way and the outcome isn’t exciting or meaningful enough we don’t follow through. That’s why so many people start a diet only to fall back into old habits and gym attendance wanes after an initial surge.

Even if we are committed to change, we may be reliant on a partner to buy into that same change, who doesn’t or won’t. The result is frustration at the failure to change and antagonism with our partners for not committing.

Budgeting can be like this. Nobody gets excited at the prospect of coming up with a monthly budget to manage their finances, let alone sticking to it. OK, maybe some people do, but they are the exceptions. Let me let you into a secret, my wife and I don’t budget and I’m a qualified financial planner and financial coach.

Anything simple to set up and stick to gets done. Part of Amazon’s success is how easy they make it for us to give them our money. “Want to check out faster with One-click ordering?”. Done. “Click here to sign up to Amazon and get next-day delivery”. Done.

Water takes the path of least resistance and so do we. So, if you want to take control of your money but shudder at the thought of budgeting make it easy to set up and stick to. These 5 steps will help:

1. Set up Direct Debits for every recurring bill. Having recurring bills taken automatically every month means you can set and forget about them. Most essential bills such as your mortgage, utility bills and council tax are anyway. Go through your bank statements and check if any repeating payments that aren’t Direct Debits, but can be.

2. Have a DDM to reduce the credit card bill each month. If you aren’t paying your credit card off in full each month you should be. The long-term cost of outstanding balances will be crippling for your financial freedom. If your debts are too big to pay off in full at the minute at least automate regular payments that are greater than the minimum amount so you are gradually reducing it.

3. Automate regular savings/investments. You aren’t going to achieve financial freedom and security if you aren’t putting money away for the future. This may be money you put into savings to act as a rainy day fund or for upcoming, bigger expenses.

   It may also be putting money into a pension or Share ISA for the future. Setting up a regular standing order for the same day as payday ensures that your savings are taken care of before you spend money on less important things. If you have different savings goals you could even set up different bank accounts for each goal. For example, a holiday fund or a Christmas fund.

   If you don’t know how much you should be saving for the future, or if what you are saving will be enough, this calculator will help.

4. Don’t get hung up on the best way to pay off your mortgage. If you want to be mortgage-free don't stress over whether it is financially optimal to invest to build up a fund to pay off the mortgage or to overpay each month. If reducing the mortgage each month feels right to you, do it. And set up a DDM.

5. Whatever is left over is yours to enjoy guilt-free. After you have covered your necessary expenses and put aside money for your future, whatever is left is yours to enjoy. You may agree with your partner that it is no quibble money; you’ve earned it, so you can spend it.

   The actual amount available to spend guilt-free will depend upon the difference between your income, expenditure and how much you are putting away for the future, but as long as you have the balance right it is important to enjoy today too.

Hopefully, you will agree that, other than setting up some direct debits and standing orders, this is a much easier way to set up and manage a budget and doesn’t require the use of spreadsheets. Sorry for those who love a spreadie.

Photo by Unseen Studio on Unsplash