Play to Win the Money Game
Get more discretionary income by mastering your expenses
You know folks who talk a tough game about business, but don’t put in the effort needed to succeed.
You, dear reader, are different. You are the learner. You are in it to win it.
And that includes the battle for wealth. You know the banking cartel has stacked the odds against you.
You’re looking for the secret sauce to achieve financial independence from the corporatist system. That secret is a financial GPS to navigate the rat-race: a budget.
For many people the word budget conjures images of an serial killer who obsessively cuts out newspaper clippings in a subterranean lair.
They don’t know what their financial situation is. Or they look the other way.
They say “I don’t want to look at it. It stresses me out.”
Schools and families don’t teach money. Co-workers and friends won’t talk about it.
Yet over half of Americans live paycheck to paycheck. Most folks cost of living skyrocketed after the globalist plandemic. But few got matching raises.1
You’ve heard “You need a budget” a million times. No one actually spends the time to teach people how to build a budget.
Budgeting lets you understand where you are, where you want to go and how to get there.
It’s a GPS for your money. It delivers simple turn by turn directions to ensure that you are financially empowered. From Investopedia:2
A budget refers to an estimation of revenue and expenses that's made for a specified future period of time. Budgeting usually occurs on an ongoing basis, with individual budgets being re-evaluated regularly.
Budgets can be made for any entity that needs or wants to spend money, including governments and businesses, people, and households of any income level.
Two years ago I was struggling to answer questions like:
Where is my money going? Are forgotten subscriptions burning my cash?
How much can I afford to give to charity or spend on gifts?
How can I afford a house and a dog?
I started off by hacking up some spreadsheets. It didn’t work. I gave up.
Then I met my friends Kason and Lisa at Wealth Battle. Kason is an experienced voluntarist entrepreneur and budget nerd.3
Kason and Lisa noticed most anarcho-capitalists are great at the anarchy but are lacking skills in at capitalism. Wealth Battle is a collaborative startup helping libertarians level up their financial education and achieve success.
Kason describes how budgeting helped him in business:
A business is a great way to put voluntarism into practice… I found the number one tool for understanding the way money was flowing in my life was building a budget.
In the words of fellow Wealth Battler Lisa:
Budgeting is the place to start because it makes you aware of your habits. It makes you aware of things you have forgotten about. It gives you an accurate picture of your financial life. And only then can you actually make informed decisions. There is a progression for a reason. It gets us ready to do the next step.
We use the app YNAB which stands for “You need a budget.” The first few months I entered transactions into YNAB manually. Then I felt the confidence to hook in the Plaid API and put budgeting on autopilot.
Putting budgeting into practice helped me get my money in order. Budgeting helped me recover from wrecking my car.
Then I got my first property and adopted my adorable dog Russell. I recently closed the first client for my business.4
Your Bottom Line
Budgeting is a habit. It takes learning and work. What is the payoff for you?
Relieve your worries like "How much do I need to cover this month?" and "When is that payment due?"
Most users see a 15% increase in discretionary income over 90 days
The Wealth Battle team has the support you need to succeed
Stop worrying and get better sleep
Let’s stick to the GPS analogy. How does budgeting help us on the road?
When you’re out driving you notice signs. These show you need to take action, like where to turn or where the speed limit changes.
There may be wildlife or reckless drivers out there. There could be potholes or even falling rocks! You want to to focus forward while driving. Check your rear-view mirror occasionally.
Similarly with your finances you have predictable expenses like your and rent. You have surprise expenses like planning a wedding.
A well designed budget protects you from financial destruction. Just like a windshield protects you from road debris. You can look back and compute reports on your previous financial expenses. You can forecast for the future.
Follow Ze Rules!
Budgeting requires discipline. YNAB lays down four rules of budgeting. Let’s break down what this looks like in practice.5
Give every dollar a job: As you get paid, assign your dollars to an expense category until there are zero “unemployed” dollars left. Stick to the plan and reap what you sow. Assign anything left over to savings for next month.
Embrace your true expenses: Figure out what you actually spend money on. This is a process of evolution. Anticipate large rare expenses. Break them into small, manageable chunks of monthly savings. Pay the expense when it’s due.
Roll with the punches: When you overspend in an expense category, adjust. Move money from one category to the other. It’s your money - spend it how you want. Move on with your life - no guilt necessary!
Age your money: Increase the time between when you earn your money and when you spend it. As you become more aware about money you’ll naturally spend less. Eventually you will pay bills with money earned over a month ago. The end result is more breathing room in your financial plan.
Wealth Battle budget nerd Kason has a FREE video where you can learn to budget. Check it out and book a no-obligation budget overhaul meeting.
