Benefits of Budgeting
By: Connie Holt, E.A.
The Henssler Financial Group Position Paper

Knowledge
Personal budgeting allows you to know exactly how much money you have — even down to the penny, if you so desire. Furthermore, a budget is a self-education tool that shows you how your funds are allocated, how they are working for you, what your plans are for them, and how far along you are toward reaching your goals. Knowledge is power, and knowing about your money is the first step to controlling it. This leads us to our next benefit.

Control
A budget is the key to enable you to take charge of your finances. With a budget, you have the tools to decide exactly what will happen to your hard-earned money — and when. You can be in control of your money, instead of having your money limit what you do. This bears repeating: You can be in control of your money, instead of letting it control you!

Organization
Even in its simplest form, a budget systematizes, or divides funds into categories of expenditures and savings. Beyond that, budgets can provide further organization by automatically providing records of all your monetary transactions. They can also provide the foundation for a simple filing system to organize bills, receipts and financial statements.

Communication
If you are married, have a family, or share money with anyone, having a budget that both or all of you create together is a key to resolving personal differences about money handling. The budget becomes a communication tool to discuss the priorities for where your money should be spent, and it allows all involved parties to "run" the system.

Opportunities
Knowing the exact state of your personal monetary affairs, and being in control of them, allows you to take advantage of opportunities that you might otherwise miss. Have you ever wondered if you could afford something? With a budget, you will never have to wonder again — you will know.

Save Time
All your financial transactions are automatically organized for tax time, for creditor questions, or for any query that may come up regarding how and when you spent money. Being armed with such information saves you time from digging through old records.

Extra Money$$$
This will be everyone's favorite benefit: A budget will almost certainly produce extra money for you to do with as you wish. Hidden fees and lost interest paid to outsiders can be eliminated forever. Unnecessary expenditures, once identified, can be stripped out. Savings, even small ones, can be accumulated and made to work for you.