The Rachel Cruze Show - 5 Reasons You Think a Budget Won’t Work for You

Episode Date: August 4, 2025

💵 The simplest way to budget. Download the EveryDollar app for free!   Think a budget isn’t for you? In this episode, I’ll break down five common reasons people say a budget won’t work for them—and why these excuses don’t hold up.   Next Steps: 🎥 Watch my video Create Your First Budget in 5 Simple Steps. 📈 Are you on track with the Baby Steps? Get a free personalized plan.   Connect With Our Sponsors: Learn more about Christian Healthcare Ministries. Get 20% off when you join DeleteMe.   Explore More From Ramsey Network: 🍸 Smart Money Happy Hour 🎙️ The Ramsey Show 💸 The Ramsey Show Highlights 🧠 The Dr. John Delony Show 💰 George Kamel 🪑 Front Row Seat with Ken Coleman 📈 EntreLeadership   Ramsey Solutions Privacy Policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

At the end of the day, I cannot force you to follow a monthly budget. Sometimes I love control and I wish I could get into each one of your finances and be like, do this, do this. But I can respond to some of the complaints, no offense, when it comes to budgeting, because there's a lot of excuses out there that I get of, well, I can't budget because this. So let's debunk five reasons a budget won't work for you. And let me know in the comments. If you feel like, yes, Rachel, maybe you're right or maybe you're wrong.

I want to hear. Now, make sure to like, subscribe, and share this episode with a friend. All right, number one, which makes sense, but the number one excuse I hear is, we have inconsistent incomes, so it is just too complicated. So when it comes to budgeting, I agree. This makes it much harder. It is so much easier if you know what your paycheck's going to be on the 15th or the 30th. And, like, you know what's happening. Much easier to budget because you know exactly what you're going to make.

and then you can budget accordingly of all of your expenses. When you don't know how much you're going to make, it does make it a little bit more complicated, but you can still budget. And this is my job. Like, I literally am on commission. So my paycheck is very different month to month. And so I kind of have to guess because you don't always know

when you start the budget for the next month, how much you're going to make. So Winston and I, we just kind of guesstimate. We're like, okay, here's what I think I'm going to make based on these things and these things. And sometimes you have to lower it. Sometimes you have to up it, depending on what you get paid on the 15th or however you get paid if it's every two weeks. But the idea here is that you are going to have to prioritize your budget if this is you.

You're going to have to have the things that you have to pay every month up at the top. So that's food, shelter, utility, transportation, insurance, child care, like these things are like, okay, I have to have these things. And then down below are the things that, okay, if we don't make as much this month, we're going to have to cut this line item. And that's okay, because we have what we need. So that's how you start to do it. But then I will tell you, as you get good at this, when you have really great months, you're going to want to put some money aside. So when you have low months, you can bring that money back in and it kind of makes it more stable. We call it peaks and valleys.

So you can even have a completely different account for this if you want to, checking account, that you put some money in or a savings account so that you can pull from that money and put it back in your checking on a really low month. And so that really does help the ups and downs. But that takes a little while to get into the groove, but you can still budget even with an inconsistent income. All right, the second excuse I hear is I'm just not disciplined enough and I just never do a good job. So this does happen if you feel like, okay, I've tried a budget once or twice and it just hasn't worked for me because I'm not good at keeping up with it. Then you need to put some things in your life, some routines that help create discipline. So this is why I do love the Every Dollar app because it is a part of saying, hey, it's going to attach to your checking account. And a part of your life and your rhythm would be to check in on your budget and be tracking your transactions.

that when you spend money so that you know we can keep up with how much you have in each category. So it is kind of like learning a new tool, if you will. It is kind of this idea of, I'm going to have to learn this new set of skills and put something new in my routine. But when you do that, the discipline comes, I promise you. And so I do love every dollar because it keeps you organized. And again, when you have every dollar premium, then you're able to attach it to your bank account.

And it is so helpful to stay on budget and to keep up with everything. So I really recommend getting that. All right, number three is I can't get my spouse on board. So this is a really hard one because if you are a household and you guys are functioning together, but one spouse doesn't want to follow a bunch of the other one does, this can get really hard. So what I would say first and foremost is do what you can. So it's probably not going to be perfect if your spouse doesn't come on board.

So give yourself that grace. But then also ask yourself the bigger questions. Okay, if they don't want to get on board with this specific thing with money, are we on board together and do we see eye on money in general? And then that kind of opens the question of where else do we might not see eye to die? Okay, well, maybe that's why these conflicts are happening or this is why I'm feeling fear over here. And then it actually starts getting into more of your marriage, which is what money does. It is like, this little thing, you pull at the string of money and then down below, it's like, oh gosh, there's like things happening in my marriage.

It's not just that my spouse doesn't want to budget. There could be other things happening. And so start digging into those things because the more you can align on with your spouse when it comes to life, then your path. way, I really do think is smoother. There's something about it of saying, okay, I'm locked in with this person. Doesn't mean you're never going to have fights. You're never going to have conflict. It's not that. But you actually know how to respond to these things because you're on the same team because you guys are working towards the same goals. So when you see that as your marriage, then money is just one of those topics that fits right in there. And so one, one is probably going to be very excited about the budget. The other one may not be as excited and that's okay.

But the idea that you guys are working together is huge. But if your spouse will not do it, budget where you can and get control where you can. All right, before we talk about income levels next, I do want to tell you about one of our sponsors, Delete Me. If you don't remove your personal data from the internet, it's basically like a billboard with your name, your address, your email, even your kids' names that are out there on sketchy data broker websites. And then they sell your data, and that puts you at risk for scams and fraud. But the good news is that Delete Me removes your data and helps protect you from fishing,

harassment, and other online threats. Winston and I use Delete Me, and it saves us so much time and worry. So you guys, your family safety and financial security are way too important to leave exposed. So sign up for, delete me, and take control. Go to join delete me.com slash Rachel for 20% off, bringing your monthly cost to under $9. Or you can just click the link in the description. All right, number four, it's all about income levels. I've heard this, I've heard, oh, we make so much money.

It's a fine. It's fine. Like we have made it. We are older. We are fine. We don't need a budget. Or I just don't make enough money to budget. So both ends of the spectrum.

No, no. I don't care how much money you make. You need to be budgeting. If you make a lot of money, you want to get to the point in your life where you're like, okay, that's great. I don't have to worry about every little thing, right? That's beautiful. You have margins, wonderful.

But you still have to have a plan. You still have to know where your money's going. You don't want to get sloppy when it comes to this. Don't do that. And then also, if you're like, oh, I just don't have enough money to budget. No, you should be budgeting. You should want your income to go as far. as possible and do the things you want to do. So I don't do this. Someone said that to me one time.

They were like, I just, you know, I worked too hard just to like nickel and dime everything. Like, it's going to be fine. And I'm like, man, listen, there is something that you have responsibility, especially if you're making a good income. You have responsibility to manage it well. I really believe that as a person and a human being. So do your partner. Budget well. If you make a lot of money or you don't make a lot of money, everyone needs to be budgeting. All right. Number five, I've tried and it just didn't. work for me. So everyone kind of has their unique situation, things in their life. They're like, yeah, you know, budgeting just isn't my thing. We're like, that's just not for me.

Listen, if you do not have a plan for your money, you guys, you're going to get to every April when you do your taxes and you're going to think, huh, that was a good amount of money. You know, I worked hard. I have no clue where it went. I don't know what's happening, but I'm going to just keep living life. Don't do that because, honestly, that mindset of people that I talk to on the Ramsey show that are 59 and they're wanting to retire and they have no money saved because they just kind of went through life. So I'm not saying you have to be obsessive about this. It's not something that's like, okay, my every waking moment I have to be thinking about money. No, it's not that. But you need to put rhythms in your life that allow you to be a whole healthier person. And money is a part of

life that we cannot escape. So what is a way that you can put some rhythms that you're like, yes, I do have control. I do know what it's happening. And again, you might be more of a free spirit, but don't let that be an excuse not to budget and not to have a plan because you work too hard for the income you make for it to be wasted. All right, like I said, I can't force you to budget. I really want to. The control freak in me is like, I want to tell you exactly what to do with all of your money. But listen, I do want to help you, though. I want to hold your hand if I can and teach you the habit of budgeting and what I have done in my life because I am a free spirit and a natural splendor. So make sure to check out the episode, create your first budget in five simple

steps. Click here to check that out. Or if you're listening on podcasts, I will leave a link below. All right, you guys remember to take control of your money and create a life you love.