A Procrastinators Guide to Budgeting to Pay Off Debt
Putting the “Pro” Into “Procrastination”
Procrastination isn’t a unique character flaw or a mysterious curse on your ability to manage time, but a way of coping with challenging emotions and negative moods induced by certain tasks — boredom, anxiety, insecurity, frustration, resentment, self-doubt and beyond.
“Procrastination is an emotion regulation problem, not a time management problem,” said Dr. Tim Pychyl, professor of psychology and member of the Procrastination Research Group at Carleton University in Ottawa.
New York Times (March 25th, 2019)
Why do we procrastinate?
According to the experts, it’s usually a way to avoid uncomfortable feelings or thoughts – even when we recognize that we’ll simply be making things worse for ourselves by putting off whatever it is we’re avoiding. In a way, it’s one of the most “American” of personal failures. We almost pride ourselves as a culture on short-term thinking and denial of natural consequences obvious to everyone else. So, while on the one hand, you’re often complicating your own life and emotional well-being by procrastinating, on the other you’re being super-patriotic and fitting right in!
Yeah, that didn’t make me feel much better about it, either.
See, I’m a procrastinator by nature. If I don’t have external deadlines, it can be very difficult for me to get started on things, even when they’re important. Even then, I sometimes have to scramble to meet those deadlines, berating myself the entire time for not “doing better” this time around – which of course just makes it harder to focus and get them done properly.
Over the years, however, I’ve learned how to work within that nature to get things done properly and on time (well, most of the time). It’s not that my basic nature has changed – I still want to put them off, and I still tend to wait longer than I should. But I’ve learned to accept these tendencies as just part of my basic makeup, while refusing to let them completely control my daily choices. We’re all adults, here – we’ve all learned how to set aside some of our urges or short-term wants in order to keep a job, maintain a relationship, raise a child, or do other adult stuff. So, it’s possible.
Seriously, it is – even for you.
The Ultimate Guide To Budgeting To Get Rid Of Debt
Don’t believe me? That’s OK for the moment. Let’s look at how even procrastinators can start taking control of our personal budgets and work towards budgeting to pay off debt… and we don’t even have to become completely different people to do it.
Step #0: Set a Realistic Schedule
I’ve found that while I’m horrible at starting what I need to do right now, I’m decent at establishing a specific time to tackle it tomorrow or this weekend. This allows me to scratch that procrastinating itch – it feels like I’m putting it off and getting away with it – without so much guilt and without neglecting the task altogether.
Pick a time you can commit 30 uninterrupted minutes to get started with a budget. Even if you’re not finished in 30 minutes, you can stop when time is up and resume your efforts next time. Put it in your planner (if you don’t have a planner, get one – or at least schedule a specific time to get one, and get it then) and set your phone alarm to go off 30 minutes beforehand and again 5 minutes beforehand. It should be easy to make the plans to do it. Following through might still take some adulting, but will be easier when you’ve planned and thought about it and the alarms have gone off and it’s in your planner and…
You get the idea.
Stick to the Plan!
It’s best if you can commit to at least twice a week, but once a week is better than nothing if you can’t. Be ready for something to conflict with your plans almost immediately – a scheduling conflict, an unexpected change in circumstances, a family member in distress. Reschedule if you must, but for sooner rather than later. Just like with a planner, even if you delay it several times, forcing yourself to move and record it each time, and resetting those alarms, will help keep the plan in mind and increase the odds you’ll find a way to make it happen (instead of having to copy it all down a fourth, fifth, or sixth time).
Step #1: Start With the Basics
You’ll read a lot on the Budgetry blogs about setting up an effective monthly or even a weekly budget. We go out of our way to be practical while still offering readers as many options and as much support as possible. Still, when you’re starting from scratch, it can seem a little overwhelming.
Budgeting Basics Spelled Out: Budgets 101
An effective household or personal budget can have a number of moving parts. It may involve keeping a spreadsheet or utilizing technology to track and categorize spending. It may include specific plans for saving or paying down debt.
The Budgetry blogs also talk about ways to reduce your monthly obligations or bump up your income. From time to time we even get into things like prioritizing your resources as part of budgeting to pay off debt or evaluating your most effective savings options to maximize your efforts.
These things are all important and helpful when you’re ready for them. If you’re just starting a budget, however – especially if you REALLY don’t want to (even though you know you should) – don’t worry about them right away. Remember that all you’re committing to is 30 minutes. Anything leftover you’ll tackle during the next block of time you’ve scheduled (and written down, and set your alarms). That’s planning, not procrastination, but it can still feel pretty good when you realize you’re off the hook for, like, three more days. And yet, there’s no guilt and no worry, because you’ve got a plan.
Keep Track of Income and Bills
For that first session, start with the basics. What is your income? (Many folks choose payday as their first day to make this part even easier.) Write it down. Add whatever you have left in your checking account from before. This is your starting place. Now, presumably, there are bills you pay as soon as the money comes in – rent, the mortgage, car payments, credit cards, etc. As you pay those bills, record them and subtract them from your starting amount.
“Wait a second,” I can hear some of you saying – “I already do this. It’s called ‘balancing my checkbook’.”
Yes, yes it is. See? Getting started is easier than you thought.
The difference is that you’re going to keep track of that same information somewhere else as well – a basic computer spreadsheet works great, but you can do it on a legal pad or with fancy software if you prefer.
Every dollar you spend, whether it’s by check, cash, credit card, PayPal, or some other format, you’re going to record. If you want to be really ambitious, have one column for expenses you know will be there pretty much every month (utilities, house payment, etc.) and one for stuff that’s irregular or unpredictable (medical bills, birthday presents, etc.)
Nice job. You’re done with the basics. See you in about 3 days.
Step #2: Adjust As You Go
Presumably, you started with what you could a few days ago. Since then, you’ve probably spent money on something. Add it to the list. It doesn’t matter whether it’s a high-end sportscar or coffee and a donut on the way to work, it has to go in the budget. You may also have remembered some things that didn’t make it on the first time – go ahead and add those. Be as specific as you can.
Categorize!
If you haven’t started categorizing already, consider doing that now – maybe a column for big ticket items you’re paying off (home, cars, major appliances purchased on credit), another for utilities, one for groceries, gas, electronic services (cable TV, cell phones, Netflix, etc.). And always have a column for “fun stuff.” Budgets aren’t about eliminated all the fun stuff. If all goes well, a budget makes it easier to have the fun stuff from time to time without it messing up the other columns.
Too many people have this weird idea that a budget is primarily about telling you how to spend your money. Nothing could be further from the truth, and besides – how would we or anyone else go about doing that, exactly? You’re here and reading this by choice. The moment you decide you don’t like my suggestions or decide you don’t want me stirring your Kool-Aid, you click one little red dot or corner ‘x’ and I’m gone.
Don’t do that, of course – that would be sad for both of us.
Of course we’re going to talk about budgeting to pay off debt because that’s why many people visit the site and it’s something most of us have had very real, personal experience with. Also, we’re pretty good at it by this point.
But budgets are about clarifying for yourself how you’re already spending your money, and making informed choices going forward about how you want to spend it. As fallible humans, there’s sometimes a rather embarrassing gap between what we think our priorities are and what our spending says our actual priorities seem to be. Sure, that might be a little uncomfortable to recognize – but no one can see you squirming or making excuses. Besides, it would be super creepy if we were actually watching you that way. It’s all about helping you be more intentional moving forward, my friend.
Also, you have something on your lip. No, the other side. There – you got it.
Step #3: Routines And Self-Checks
If you can hold yourself to the second week of “budget meetings” for 30 minutes, your chances of maintaining the practice afterwards skyrockets. When you get to your next payday, it’s time for your first self-assessment. If your budget efforts began as part of an overall debt payoff strategy, this is where things start to get real – and that’s OK.
Hopefully, you balance your checkbook as you go. If nothing else, you know what you had when you started with this whole budgeting thing (that was Step #1, remember?) and you should know what you have now. Now, look at that budget sheet you’ve been keeping, which is mostly expenses in a few simple categories so far. You should be able to take the amount you started with, subtract the items you’ve accounted for on your budget, and have the total you had left in your account before today’s paycheck was deposited. If so, congrats – you’re ready to move on to the next step of budgeting.
If not, that’s OK – most of us don’t get it the first time. Chances are you’ve just discovered that you’ve spent money you can’t account for – and have no idea where or how. Considering how long it takes to earn, it sure goes out quickly and easily, doesn’t it? Do your best to figure out what’s missing and add it to your budget. Then let’s try again between now and the next paycheck.
“Blaine, is this really the quickest way to pay off debt? You’re talking like we’re talking months to even get to the part where we change our spending! I thought we were budgeting to begin thinking differently and to make the tough calls! When do we start budgeting to pay off debt?
This post is “A Procrastinator’s Guide to Paying Off Debt.” If you’re looking for “The Gung-Ho Ready-To-Get Serious Guide to Debt Payoff Strategy,” that’s like, half the other posts in the Budgetry and Debtry blogs. I won’t be offended if you jump over to one of those – they’re pretty good. On the other hand, if you just thought to yourself, “Yeah, maybe I’ll check those out later,” then you’re right where you need to be.
Procrastinator.
Step #4: Steering Towards a Plan
It may take a few months before you’re accounting for every dollar you take in and spend. That’s OK. Each time you schedule your bi-weekly date-with-your-budget, tell yourself that by honing your spreadsheet, you’re actually putting off deciding what changes you want to make. (Remember, we don’t have to change our basic natures – just learn to work effectively within them.) Keep those 30-minute budget dates, however, and push yourself to account for every dollar in and every dollar out. We can’t make informed decisions without first being accurately informed. And there’s no one judging you here except yourself.
You’ll probably start to notice, however, that despite all this talk of working within our own procrastinating tendencies, on some level you’re itching to make meaningful changes. You want your money to go further. You want to be able to take care of those you love, to be responsible while still having some fun along the way. You’d like to have a little less stress and guilt and a little more money to spend on the stuff that really matters.
Take Your Time
If that’s the case, then you’re not procrastinating any longer. You’re right on schedule. It may seem counterintuitive to say that for some of us, the quickest way to pay off debt starts with a few months of simply figuring out a basic personal or household budget and where the money’s going in the first place. For some people, that might feel completely backward.
For those of us who wrestle with procrastination, however, we need this time to build up to this sort of change. We need the information and we need to form the habits (keep using that planner and setting that phone alarm) and we need to feel like we’re doing something useful while at the same time “putting it off,” even if only for a few days.
It probably took you a long time to get into debt. Is it so crazy that it might take a few months to lay the foundation for budgeting to pay off debt?
Step #5: Take a Step (Or Two)
We all know the stories about people who make dramatic New Year’s Resolutions to lose weight or otherwise improve themselves in some dramatic fashion. They have ambitious goals for massive changes in order to make it happen but rarely last past Valentine’s Day. On the other hand, you probably know someone who gave up soda or sugary drinks and started slowly losing weight and feeling better. Then maybe they cut back on fast food or increased how often they’d walk after work. They were successful.
Take Initiative. Create a Budget. Build Wealth.
The Budgetry Store Will Help.
There’s nothing wrong with revolutionary change if you can do it. But baby steps are OK as well – especially if you need to tell yourself that you’re only changing a few little things now and “putting off” the really hard stuff for later.
Start using part of your date-with-your-budget time to read the Budgetry blogs or other sites in the Goalry family. Choose one idea to try this month – cutting back on utilities, lowering your cable or phone subscriptions, reducing your grocery bill, etc. Get good at that part, then next month, keep doing it while you try another. Most budgeting to pay off debt is incremental, meaning you take it a step at a time. As you keep going, however, small changes begin to multiply. You begin applying a little more each month to target your most challenging debt. You start to see your credit score rise and your debt fall, and that makes it MUCH easier to keep making positive changes.
Conclusion
I haven’t talked much about specific strategies for budgeting to pay off debt. That’s OK – they’re well-covered elsewhere in our blogs by some of my favorite colleagues. What I hope you take away from this is that no matter what you think is preventing you from getting started, even if you’re a serious procrastinator like me, that it’s possible to work within that and still work towards positive results.
If you have doubts about your ability to follow through or worry that there’s no way you can do this, that’s understandable. But let’s not do that part right now. It can wait. We’ll worry and feel guilty and overwhelmed, sure… but later. Much, much later, maybe. If we get around to it.
Right now? Right now, you’re not a failure. You’re not the one person who can never get it together no matter how hard you try. That's frustration talking. Feelings are important, but they're not facts. Let's step back and talk reality for a moment.
You’re doing your best in a complicated, messed up world not exactly made to help folks like us succeed. Cut yourself some slack. Set up a time here in the next few days that you can start that spreadsheet. Put it in your planner and set that phone alarm. Keep this post bookmarked for easy reference until you’re ready to dive into others.
And that part? That part you might as well do right now.