Budgeting: Is It Worth the Effort?

Without taking a poll or citing a survey, I’d confidently guess that fewer people maintain a budget as they get older—and that the decline is even more pronounced as income rises.

Think about when you were a young whippersnapper with your first job, trying to make your paycheck go as far as possible. Are you still as tactical as you were then, or have you become more permissive?

The Excuses We Make About Budgeting

I imagine some common excuses for loose money management include, “I don’t have time” or, my favorite, “I work too hard to track every dollar.”

If you work hard in your job, why be careless with what you reap from it? To be blunt, I think 99% of excuses for not budgeting are a cover-up for laziness.

Intentionality Is the Mother of Results

As I reflect on the things I want in life, I realize intentionality is the mother of results.

Want more friends? Be a friend. Want a healthy marriage? Spend quality time with your spouse and speak kindly to them. Want to sow more into charities that impact what tugs on your heart? Want to build wealth and financial security?

Both can be accomplished if you pay a little more attention to where your money goes.

How Budgeting Can Reduce Money Tension in Marriage

Speaking of healthy marriage, I can proudly say my husband and I rarely experience tension when it comes to discretionary spending.

Creating Personal Spending Lines

By including a Jeremy Spending line and a Sara Spending line in our budget—and agreeing to stay within our predetermined monthly allocations—judgment is avoided altogether.

If you’re married and you’re like most couples who struggle in this arena, I highly recommend this.

Stewardship Starts With Awareness

No one has unlimited resources, and every financial decision comes with tradeoffs.

I believe we’re called to be good stewards of what we’re given—with money, but also with everything in life. For many people, better money stewardship begins with monitoring the inflows and outflows.

Budgeting Does Not Have to Take Much Time

On average, I might give our budget around five minutes of my attention per day.

In 2026, budgeting no longer requires a calculator, a legal pad, or the emotional fortitude to build a spreadsheet from scratch—there is, mercifully, an app for nearly everything.

I think it’s important to note that I don’t do it out of fear. I account for our spending and savings because it keeps us on track for the things we want to do with our money—whether now or long-term.

Luke 16:10-11

July 2026