Regular readers of Free Money Finance know that I recommend You Need A Budget as a budgeting solution. Personally, I use a self-made spreadsheet for budgeting, but because my readers like You Need a Budget, I recommend it to others looking for help with budgeting.
The other day, I was contacted by the You Need A Budget folks and asked if I wanted to do a giveaway of their top-of-the-line product, You Need a Budget Pro. Never one to pass up a free giveaway for my readers, I said "sure!"
So here's how it will work:
1. Leave a comment below giving your #1 reason a person needs a budget. (I'll post a few more times on this giveaway and you can comment on those posts too.)
2. Next Monday, I'll review the comments, pick the one I feel is best, and announce that person as the winner. This person will get the free version of You Need a Budget Pro (I'll give your email to the You Need a Budget folks and they'll send you details on how to get your free copy.)
3. In addition, I'll pick the #2-#6 reasons as well, and those people will get a $10 coupon off a purchase of You Need a Budget Pro.
A few rules for these giveaways:
1. You can not win more than one prize.
2. I will be the complete and final judge.
3. Legal disclaimer: I can not guarantee safe delivery of the items. You Need a Budget is handling everything and if there are any problems, you'll need to deal with them.
4. If you win something and do not contact me within a week of winning, I reserve the right to give your prize away to another winner. Note: I won't track down the winners -- it's your responsibility to come back and see if you won.
Good luck! Post a comment below for a chance to win this giveaway!
Gas is going to $4, college is thru the roof and I have a baby due in mid July....I NEED A BUDGET!
Posted by: mark | May 16, 2007 at 07:04 AM
You need a budget because building wealth is not possible without self-discipline.
A budget is an essential tool for setting goals; establishing reasonable boundaries that are necessary for meeting those goals; and measuring your performance and holding you accountable to those boundaries. If you lose ground, a budget will alert you to this fact, and you can adjust your budget to compensate. If you exceed your goals, a budget gives you some freedom to enjoy any excess you are blessed with.
A budget is an essential tool for exercising financial self-discipline!
Posted by: Scott Moonen | May 16, 2007 at 07:31 AM
There is one simple reason you need a budget: so you spend less than you earn!
Posted by: Brian D | May 16, 2007 at 07:45 AM
You need a budget because it's the first step on the road to financial planning. You won't get anywhere with your retirement planning or net-worth-growing if you don't first have a budget.
Posted by: Mama Money | May 16, 2007 at 08:56 AM
Making a budget is essential because forces you to sit down and become conscious about where your money is actually going. It'll help you recognize any potential cash flow problems and requires you to have self discipline and live within your means. It's the first step towards setting (and keeping) reasonable long term financial goals.
Posted by: Jeff | May 16, 2007 at 09:31 AM
A budget is the financial equivelent of prioritization in time management. As readers of the book "Your money or you life" know money is something we get in exchange for life energy. So why wouldn't you want to be spending your life in the most rewarding fashion? Therefore you need a budget to allocate your money (life energy) to the right places.
Posted by: Derek | May 16, 2007 at 09:34 AM
I spend too much time away from my family and put in too much hard work earning money to allow it to simply walk out the door without a prioritized, assigned purpose.
Posted by: Charles Calabritto | May 16, 2007 at 09:36 AM
I need a budget to help keep my wife and I on the same page. A budget will also help to teach our children the meaning of money and financial resposibility, learning by the example we set for them.
Posted by: Lance Jurgensen | May 16, 2007 at 09:40 AM
Without a budget, you will find it very difficult to save for your future or to fully enjoy your present. Budgeting allows you to make sure that you are spending less than you earn, and it also allows you to spend money without having to worry about whether or not the expense is going to interfere with your future. If you set money aside for frivolous expenses, then you can fritter that away on anything you want without being kept up at night. You will still have a nice nest egg when you are ready to change careers or retire.
Posted by: Blaine Moore (First Time Home Owner) | May 16, 2007 at 10:01 AM
The reason for a budget changes depending on who you are:
A person currently without a budget -- Without a budget, such a person will have no idea where his money is going. Without an idea where money is flowing out of his bank account, he can do little to stop the flow. Knowledge is power, and without a budget such ignorance will render the person financially powerless. A budget will be a first step to bring you back to your financial reality.
A person currently with a budget -- It allows you to evaluate your current position. You can see if you have reached your milestones that you have set up in the past. You can see whether your money is doing what you wanted it to do. You can adjust your expectation. You are in control. A budget becomes your sixth financial sense.
Posted by: Edmund | May 16, 2007 at 11:01 AM
Here is one reason why I need a budget:
"Cut Off My Dog's Balls"
When my girlfriend and I take our 5 year old Boston Terrier Mack to get fixed, a health problem pops up. We adopted him in November. First, it was kennel cough, then a skin fungal infection. A thyroid problem followed that. Currently, he may or may not have Cushings, an adrenal gland disease.
As a result, he has escaped the knife five times (a vet canceled once).
Dog lovers, do not worry. Mack is happy, eating, bouncing around. We will take care of whatever health issues come along.
However YNAB would help immensely to build the "Mack Fund" we are obviously need. Plus, once his overall health is better, we could finally get him fixed!
Posted by: Addie Compton | May 16, 2007 at 11:19 AM
Charles Dickens wrote about the importance of having and sticking to a budget in David Copperfield:
"Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure nineteen six, result happiness. Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure twenty pounds ought and six, result misery."
Enough said.
Posted by: Brett McKay | May 16, 2007 at 11:45 AM
You (and I) need a budget because without it we have no map for where we are. Just as I wouldn't venture out into the unfamiliar woods on a long trip without a map, neither should I do this with my finances. We do have a budget at the moment, but really could use some assistance in improving, refining and adjusting that budget to better fit our needs. There are details and things we miss that keep jacking our budget. So we're only working with a partial map, or a map with too little detail.
Big Chris
Posted by: Big Chris | May 16, 2007 at 12:09 PM
My girlfriend needs a budget. Despite being a beautiful and talented tax accountant, she struggles with her finances. Her family immigrated here a few years ago and she's doing everything (legally) possible to become a citizen on her own. She's got school loans, personal loans and a little bit of credit card debt with the INS lawyers circling overhead. She manages to survive, but with a formal budget I know she'd thrive and succeed in obtaining the American dream.
*cue flags, fireworks, marching band*
Posted by: tinyhands | May 16, 2007 at 12:17 PM
In life, we have to plan for many things to succeed. To pass an exam, we study. To win in a game, we practice. To be financially stable, we need a budget. Even corporations and our government needs a budget to function.
Budgeting helps us manage limited resources (our money) to fullfill our unlimited wants (our demands).
Everyone has wants, so we all need a Budget!
Posted by: ArmeL | May 16, 2007 at 12:57 PM
If you don't have a plan for your money, you will find that it has a plan for you!!!
Posted by: VanillaMocha | May 16, 2007 at 01:09 PM
Success at life requires a plan.
Posted by: Dean in Des Moines | May 16, 2007 at 04:45 PM
A budget is essentially the first step in acquiring wealth over time. It creates and establishes your cashflow or lack thereof, enabling individuals to become more accountable for there own financial circumstances.
Posted by: bigbuddha | May 16, 2007 at 06:35 PM
You write it, you spent it! A budget makes you keep track of everything you spend against what you plan to spend. If you write it down, it makes it more realistic and you are less likely to overspend. It keeps you in check.
Posted by: Debt Free or Bust | May 16, 2007 at 09:41 PM
I need a budget, to assist me become financially discipline. I want to staret investing, planning for the future,But Financial obligations are mounting,as children growing. It feel like I am just digging a hole.
Posted by: Lauri | May 16, 2007 at 10:40 PM
I need a budget because I recently checked my checking account balance before writing a check to the credit card company, and couldn't figure out where the $3,000 I transferred into that account two months ago disappeared to. Those little "leaks" are causing money to disappear very quickly. I need some sort of help, and this sounds like just the tool.
Posted by: juanny | May 17, 2007 at 07:12 AM
Only when you have budget then you can really be on the way to "financial independent".
Posted by: Jun | May 17, 2007 at 11:32 AM
A budget is a necessary *method* to instill financial accountability, and it *measures* your success at meeting your(hopefully) well-thought out goals. Whether you can follow your own budget reflects on your character, whether self disciplined or not, and speaks volumes about the financial decisions you make.
A budget may be defined as a means to building mega-amounts of wealth, achieving financial independence, or as in my case, aiming to be a good steward of what the Lord gives.
Posted by: Jonathan | May 17, 2007 at 12:15 PM
You Need a Budget because without it you end up with all the latest DVDs, books and designer clothes looking cool for the year. Your kitchen is stocked with more equipment than the best seafood restaurant in town. You are well known to all the hostesses at the 5 star restaurants and your new car has all the newest gadgets and the most beautiful paint job in the world. And as you sit in your amazing Martha Stewart decorated home, surrounded by all the coolest things; it's hard to see them when the lights are shut off. It's hard to appreciate them when they are being hauled away by the IRS. And one day, when you are stuck in the county assisted living facility; parked under a tree for 8 hours in the 100+ degree heat, you can reflect on why you have no money left to help with your bills you can say, well, I wanted the see Shrek in HD! BLAH!
Posted by: Jana Ortega | May 17, 2007 at 01:06 PM
You need a budget so you can hopefully become financial stable and when you face financial difficulties (health problems, car problems, lose your job, etc) you are prepared and more able to still stay afloat during the hard times.
Posted by: Jo (Single Female in Search of a New Job) | May 17, 2007 at 01:38 PM
A budget is a control tool; it is used to control money.
As an engineering student, I study control of other physical things, like electricity and forces. The systems that engineers design, such as bridges, iPods, robots, etc., work the way we want them to only because engineers have managed to control the fundamentals of their operation.
In the same way, we can only meet our financial goals (having money work the way we want it to) if we manage to control our income and expenditure. That's why we need a budget.
Posted by: Mira | May 17, 2007 at 08:45 PM
The best way to answer the question "Why do people need a budget?" is by using a sports analogy. Let me rephrase it to say "How do successful teams win games without a game plan?" The answer - they don't!
All successful sports teams, companies, and individuals have a plan that they are trying to accomplish. They stick to this plan steadfastly; however, if after many efforts, they see the plan isn't working they change it.
So if a budget is a game plan for your finances, how can you be successful financially if you don't know what the plan is? And how can you tell if it is not working and needs to be changed, if you haven't tried it. Obviously, everyone needs a budget and needs to try to stick to it. Be honest and realistic, after all, you can't tell where you are going if you don't know where you are now.
Posted by: Rob | May 18, 2007 at 09:06 AM
The best way to answer the question "Why do people need a budget?" is by using a sports analogy. Let me rephrase it to say "How do successful teams win games without a game plan?" The answer - they don't!
All successful sports teams, companies, and individuals have a plan that they are trying to accomplish. They stick to this plan steadfastly; however, if after many efforts, they see the plan isn't working they change it.
So if a budget is a game plan for your finances, how can you be successful financially if you don't know what the plan is? And how can you tell if it is not working and needs to be changed, if you haven't tried it. Obviously, everyone needs a budget and needs to try to stick to it. Be honest and realistic, after all, you can't tell where you are going if you don't know where you are now.
Posted by: Rob | May 18, 2007 at 09:45 AM
A budget is your atlas to saving money. While you may know the general direction you are going, without a map or a budget you might end up someplace other than where you expected to be.
Posted by: Curtis | May 18, 2007 at 10:00 AM
Every one has a budget! (in terms that everyone has some income, and everyone makes expenditures)
The question and issue rather, is whether a person KNOWS what there budget is. Budgeting, in terms of tracking income and expenses will bring about freedom from stress, joy in giving and future financial health.
I am humble to recognize that I need much help in this area, please consider me for this contest.
Posted by: bill | May 18, 2007 at 11:59 AM
A person nneds a budget to see clearly where their money is going. A person needs information to make sound decisions. A budget provides information so a person can prioritize their spending and gain some control.
Posted by: BR | May 18, 2007 at 12:19 PM
You need a budget so you know where the leaks in your money are! To fix your money problems, you need to have an idea where your money is going and where you plan the money to go.
Posted by: Christian Finance | May 18, 2007 at 07:01 PM
I need a budget because My husband and I have hair raising student loans, a mortgage, and our 2 children and I have ongoing medical bills for a genic heart disease condition.
The Medical bills will be ongoing. We do have health insurance but it only covers about a third of the medical bills. We would also like to save money for their education throughout their lifetime.
At this point I have a hard time trying to figure out what to pay first.
Posted by: Patricia Garner | May 18, 2007 at 10:29 PM
Budgets are a pact between your current self and your future self on how you plan on living your life.
Posted by: Ben | May 18, 2007 at 10:50 PM
Even thinking about a plan for how your money flows in and out is better than no plan at all. Being knowledgeable about spending choices as early as possible will hopefully lead to better decisions on larger-value items further down the line.
Posted by: Matt | May 20, 2007 at 02:56 PM
A budget is a map and a compass for your life and your dreams. If you build a good one, it can tell you where you are and where you have been. It can tell you how much you need, how much you need to do, and potentially what to do, to get to where you would like to go.
Posted by: J.R. | May 21, 2007 at 01:49 PM
The competition is now closed and the winners will be announced soon in a new post.
Posted by: FMF | May 21, 2007 at 03:47 PM
I need a budget: kids are now teens, husband's parents moved in with us, we are making decent money, but always seem to be behind. I need a change of attitude/focus/perspective. Help! :)
Posted by: Becky | May 30, 2007 at 10:14 PM
A budget is a great way to keep track of your money and to not let you get so stressed out. It keeps you from going over board on expenses. Plus if you are married it helps not to get in a huge fight about money with your spouse.
Posted by: Andrea | March 11, 2008 at 12:01 PM