At the far corner of the table, near his right arm there lay a notebook jotted with numbers and receipts covering some of the numbers. I couldn’t see what it was for sure so I had to ask.”Bob, I’m going to be a little forward but what are those papers?”
“They’re all of the receipts in the last month.”
“What are you going to do with them?”
“I write them all down in that notebook.” Bob’s eyes moved to a notebook that lay just underneath the receipts.
I thought about it. I always chose my words as carefully as I could. I suppose because I looked up to Bob, didn’t want him upset with me, or him think I was being too forward. Most of the time he gave me wisdom but it was with reluctance. “So a form of budgeting?”
Bob paused, didn’t respond. He was hesitating for some reason. Maybe it was talking about money, something people didn’t do. “I just do it for records. I don’t budget.”
I was sort of bewildered. What did he mean he didn’t budget but kept records. “Isn’t that budgeting?” I didn’t like challenging him but I didn’t understand how he could keep records but didn’t keep a budget.
“No, that’s when you set out an amount that you’re going to spend in the up coming month. You stick to it unless there is something unexpected. People write down a how much they will spend in certain buckets, such as gas, groceries, entertainment, etc. Other people will allocate a certain amount of cash to each area.”
“Got it. It’s more of an understanding where your money went. How you spent it.”
Bob shook his head affirming what I said. “Yes. It lets me know what I spent on gas or groceries. If prices went up, which they always seem too.”
“Do you ever use it to see if you’re spending more on needs versus wants.”
“No. I used it for that years ago. As I’ve aged I’ve wanted less.”
I thought to myself that made sense.
“But this would be a good place to determine if you’re spending your money on wants or needs.” I paused for a minute, took a few sips of the tea Bob had given me. “Why did you track your money to begin with?”
“I started it a long time ago. I probably started tracking my money before I got married. I suppose it was how I was raised. During the great depression things were very tight. My dad still was the only one who worked outside the house. Mom, she managed everything. It could’ve been down to the penny. course a penny went somewhere back then. Saving was important, spending on stuff that wasn’t needed was the last thing we did. It’s pretty natural to not want and make due with what I had.” Bob shrugged his shoulders. “Besides we didn’t know any different. And mom’s tight management helped everyone get through the hard times.”
“Do you think budgeting has been helpful?”
“I think so. I didn’t buy stuff. The kids have done well and Trudie had everything she needed.”
I looked around the house. It wasn’t a big place, small, in fact. Hard to imagine six kids and two parents lived here. There was one bath and shower. You had to be well organized to get everyone in and out of the shower. Bob didn’t drive the newest vehicle. Actually, it was a fifteen-year-old van. I wasn’t sure if he needed the budget because it appeared to be more of a mindset. But what struck me is with that mindset he still had everything he needed but with that frugality he could persevere through just about anything that was thrown at him.
I wasn’t a spendthrift, but I didn’t know where my money went either. This is something that is so obvious, but I probably needed to hear the importance of budgeting from someone I respected. The part that drove me crazy about budgeting, the tediousness of it all.
“That’s really interesting. And you’ve done it on paper this whole time?”
Bob shrugged his shoulders, somehow hearing that was a bad thing but knowing it worked for him.
I affirmatively shake my head. “Alright, I think I might start to budget as well. Or at least track where my money went. It should inform me of my money.” I smile. “I might use an excel sheet or a piece of software though.”
“Let me know how it works out.”
