Adjustments are a necessary part of ongoing financial management. This is especially true in the early days of implementing a new budget or spending plan. It generally takes 60-90 days to get an accurate grasp of where most of your money is going.
In the context of The 7-A Money Max System, adjustments are tied to the previous two steps. In Step 3 we made financial decisions in advance of receiving our paychecks by playing “The Pretend Spend” game. We then tracked our expenses to become aware of the “weaker areas” in our budget in Step 4.
In Step 5, we compare our Advanced decision numbers (Step 3) with our Actual spending numbers (Step 4). Ideally, this will reveal that our actual spending is in line with our advanced commitments. Often however, surprise discrepancies surface.
One family allowed $50 per month for Starbucks in Step 3, only to discover they had spent $342.34 on Starbucks in Step 4.
It is imperative to know this kind of information. Once you discover it, you can do something about it.
If you are married, it is important to participate in this entire process as a couple. Though this can create tension, working through it together is invaluable. Work hard to extend grace to one another while creating a joint money management plan that is sharp as a razor.
In the example above, the couple who overspent on Starbucks, simply needs to be honest and add money to the Starbucks fund (during Step 3). Or they could cut Starbucks consumption to the agreed upon amount. Or they could compromise with a completely new financial amount for their monthly Starbucks purchases.
It might even be wise to purchase an espresso machine for the home and start creating your own fancy coffee for less.
The options go on and on including cutting Starbucks out of the budget completely (Heaven forbid). You get the idea. This takes a little time and effort.
But it is worth it. Once you get the hang of this system, it will pay you big money. Additionally, it will become habitual and you won’t even have to think about it to get amazing results and eliminate the number one cause of divorce in the U.S.A.
Please leave your comments and suggestions. If you have a great system that is working for you, please share it in the comments section.
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I agree about the Starbucks expenses. Once I stop to consider how much a can of my favorite coffee is at the grocery store (about $4) it is hard to pay more than that for a single cup at Starbucks. But, occasionally when I do go to Starbucks I buy the largest size so that I can get my money’s worth. Knowledge is power!
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