A budget is simple. You manage the best you can with what you have, and hope like hell you don’t break a leg, or the company you work for doesn’t go belly up. No matter how well, or not so well, I’ve been able to budget, there is always something that will bite you in the ass.

Cars and trucks break down. In my case boat motors, and diving gear also need maintaining, or replacing. Usually at the least opportune moment.

The flu, will knock you out of work for a week. There goes the budget.

Kids are always needing something you didn’t plan on. A school project, a school trip, a trip to the dentist. Two of my boys came home from school with strep on a regular basis. Schools, are basically a petri dish experiment looking for a way to extort your wallet and make sure the doctor’s kids go to college.

budget /bŭj′ĭt/

noun

1. An itemized summary of estimated or intended expenditures for a given period along with proposals for financing them.”submitted the annual budget to Congress.”
2. A systematic plan for the expenditure of a usually fixed resource, such as money or time, during a given period.”A new car will not be part of our budget this year.”
3. The total sum of money allocated for a particular purpose or period of time.”a project with an annual budget of five million dollars.”

That is a basic dictionary definition of budget. The reality is, no matter how well you budget, the unexpected is always lurking around the corner, looking for an opportunity to blow your pathetic budget all to hell. How well you can manage each and every mini crisis that demands total destruction of the budget, is a true measure of success.

A close friend of a ruined budget is credit. Credit loves you. It helps to take care of that busted budget very conveniently. Just “charge it!” We can pay it back later. Everybody does it. It’s easy. It’s also a trap! It’s easy alright, easy to get in way over your head. When that happens, guess what? Now you have to budget for the debt you carry. And that debt doesn’t go away easily, you won’t pay it back at the minimum payments in a million gazillion lifetimes. It just keeps getting bigger and bigger and more demanding of the budget.

Best advice I can give on debt management is this, when you get a windfall, a good tax return, or an unexpected bonus, do NOT let it fritter away at the local Wal Mart. Make it matter. Pay it on your debt.

A budget only accounts for the things we know are coming, on a regular basis. Which makes it damn near useless in my life experience. Because there’s always a wolf at the door, a dragon to be slayed, a damsel that needs rescued, and at the worst possible time.

Keep thine armor and sword in good condition. You will need them.