Budgeting? What's That?

by David George

In my experience budgeting seems to be difficult for young adults. For some their impulsive nature destroys any budget they create. For others, realistically anticipating expenses is the tricky part. And others have a hard time with the bookkeeping that is required to track and monitor spending. But really I think the largest single factor is that we don’t think that our income (or lack thereof) should limit our spending.

Now we may not all consciously think this, but our actions reveal it. Perhaps the most revealing is that the officials we elect to govern our national budget agree with us. Last year in 2008 the federal budget deficit was $450,000,000,000. This year the deficit spending has been projected to be close to $1,900,000,000,000, over four times as much as last year. It will increase our national debt by nearly 20%. It’s as if actual tax revenue is irrelevant in determining federal expenditures; only perceived necessity is factored into spending decisions.

Really this shows that we no longer think we must earn our heart’s desires. Instead, we feel that we are entitled to them. But the truth is, we are not entitled to our heart’s desires. We still have to earn them and if we ignore that truth it will catch up to us eventually. Anyone who has filed for bankruptcy will tell you that. The State of California realized it this year, and the federal government will discover it someday too. Have you discovered it yet?