It’s been said that failing to plan is planning to fail — especially with respect to personal finances. And although you may be prepared, one of the biggest mistakes any household CEO can make is to abandon their financial plan during extended periods of good or bad fortune. Why? Because, for those who lack the discipline to stay the course, raw emotion may erroneously trump the sound reasoning that was previously used to build their strategic plan.
The bottom line: Having a plan is one thing — but unless you stick to it, you may as well have no plan at all.
Photo Credit: Christopher Michel
We are in a situation right now where I am tempted to leave our plan of selling out house before buying a new one. I think it will work to buy a new house before our current one is sold, but I know it will work if we stick to the plan of waiting for the house sells before purchasing a new one. I just hope I am not being to conservative by waiting or to agressive by overbuying before the house is sold.
I fail to plan meals. I let the pantry reach Mother Hubbard status.
Failing to plan means more money on fast food and junk food and is the biggest budget waster that I have.
We are four years into a five year plan to pay off debt. As things are getting paid off, and money is loosening up a bit. I find myself spending money differently that I would have a year or two ago. This is a timely reminder to stay the course!
It’s also important to adjust, I find. This can lead to a slippery slope, though, as you rightly point out.
I read once that quite a number of folks make budget for their finances but an overwhelming majority quit following their own budget in less than 3 months.
Just having a plan is never enough! You need to monitor your progress and adjust your effort in order to meet your goal or objective.
I think it might even be worse than not having a plan because I’m much more confident when I have a plan… No good reason to be confident in something when I’m not going to stick to the plan