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Bonus resources to help you practice a budget-free approach in your life
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A money map you can download, print, or use as a spreadsheet. Use it to stay apprised of your financial situation and add ease to financial decision-making.
Get the Google Sheets/Excel template
(In Sheets: Go to File → Make a Copy to get a fillable version in your own Google Drive. Or use File → Download for version you can edit on your computer.)
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A collection of the reflection questions from every chapter of the book, in a printable PDF journal.
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About This Chapter
BUDGET CULTURE HAS RUINED OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH MONEY
Budget culture is what I call the dominant way we think, teach and talk about money. It’s a set of beliefs around money that relies on restriction, shame, and greed: restrict how you use money, shame yourself for financial moves, and greedily hoard wealth as much as you can. We all participate in budget culture to some extent, whether we’re actively budgeting or not, because it’s simply the way things are around us.
Related Reading: What is budget culture? How this sneaky paradigm hurts everyone
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About This Chapter
BUDGETING DOESN’T WORK
Nearly every piece of financial advice — whether the goal is to pay off debt, save for a big purchase or start investing — starts with making a budget. Yet, very little research exists into whether or not budgeting actually improves financial outcomes. A deep dive into existing evidence suggests the opposite: budgets are unsustainable, they don’t reduce spending or improve well-being, they make money management more stressful, and they’re not designed for real life.
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About This Chapter
YOU DON’T NEED A BUDGET
Money should be easy. Budgets offer an illusion of control within the chaos of our systems, but you have to work hard to maintain the illusion. Avoid money management methods, tips, or tools that set spending limits, categorize spending, name priorities for you, label any kind of spending as “good” or “bad” (or “wants” versus “needs”), or in any way make you feel like you’re not good with money. Instead of adopting money management methods that ask for more time and diligence, find ways to get money off your mind.
Financial Processes Template
(In Docs: Go to File → Make a Copy to get a fillable version in your own Google Drive. Or use File → Download for a version you can edit on your computer.)
Money Date Template
Apps for Automating Money Management
Papaya lets you pay any bill online by snapping a picture of it with your phone.
Paytrust lets you manage and pay bills all in one place, manually or through autopay.
Qapital is a banking app that lets you set rules to automate your contributions to commitments, savings, and other goals every time money comes in.
Qube Money is a banking app that mimics a cash envelope system. It’s highly budget focused, but you don’t have to use it that way. You can set up your “qubes” to fund commitments and goals and set aside your Yes Fund.
Providers helps you manage paychecks and public benefits in one place.
NerdWallet’s app lets you see your credit score, net worth and cash flow in one place.
CreditKarma and Credit Sesame give you a snapshot of your debts and credit report.
Banking apps like Aspiration, Greenwood Bank, and Atmos reward you and help you track spending in line with your values.
Reminder: Like most technology that’s free to use, some financial apps make money by selling your data or using it to serve ads, so make sure you’re familiar with the ways an app uses your personal and financial information and how it makes money before you sign up!
Related reading: You don’t need a budget — how to manage your money with ease and joy
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About This Chapter
YOU DON’T HAVE TO EARN YOUR LIVING
Reject the capitalist premise that paying for basic human needs makes sense. Income from work isn’t superior to any other resource that lets you access necessities. Meet your needs not only through earned income but also by aking advantage of the ways our government intervenes against the forces of capitalism: claim tax credits, utilize public benefits, and be served by tax-advantaged nonprofit organizations. Take advantage of capitalists themselves by leveraging debt to tap into the capital they hoard. Recognize these resources as valid and morally neutral alongside earned income.
Related reading: What does 'good work' look like for you?
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About This Chapter
YOU DON’T HAVE TO WORK SO HARD
A person’s value to society isn’t attached to how they work, their ability to do certain jobs, what kind of work they choose, or how much money they’re paid for working. Tap into your intuition to choose good work that’s in line with what matters to you, and detach your self-worth from external measures like job title and pay.
Form a Union: Resources from AFL-CIO
Start a Worker Coop:Resources from the TESA Collective
Related Reading: "What Can I Do to Help the Labor Movement?"
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About This Chapter
YOU DON’T HAVE TO PAY ALL OF YOUR BILLS
There’s no such thing as a “fixed expense.” Bills aren’t immutable obligations; they’re commitments you make to pay. When those commitments no longer serve you, you can cut them to make the changes you want in your life. When commitments are out of balance with your resources, deprioritizing payments is a valid way to achieve financial wellness.
Financial Triage Worksheet
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About This Chapter
YOU DON’T HAVE TO PAY OFF DEBT
Choosing how to use debt and how to deal with it are financial decisions, not moral or ethical ones, and carrying debt won’t destroy your life the way budget culture makes you believe. Understand the consequences tied to any debt you use, and you can decide how to deal with it in a way that supports your life and goals.
Federal Student Loan Resources
Check StudentAid.gov from the U.S. Department of Education for the most up-to-date information about student debt management and relief: Federal Student Loan Debt Relief.
Find out who services your loans. Contact that company for questions about your individual debt status and options.
Apps to monitor your credit score and report
Credit Karma by Intuit
CreditWise by Capital One
Cheat Sheet: Types of Debt
Cheat Sheet: Credit Scores 101
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About This Chapter
YOU DON’T NEED AN EMERGENCY FUND
Money is just one of the realities of your life; it’s not the defining force. Financial fluctuations alone don’t constitute an emergency; the most they can do is make you uncomfortable—they cannot break you. A store of money can ease financial stress and let you live life without money weighing in, but you can set your comfort level wherever it makes sense for you.
Related Reading: Examine your financial goals
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About This Chapter
YOU DON’T NEED AN INVESTMENT ACCOUNT
Our systems of work and government have designed investing to be the most viable path to lifelong security and independence, but investing in a capitalist economy is an ethical minefield that takes advantage of workers, pollutes the environment, and harms society. You’re not a bad person if you take this route, but it’s worth considering alternatives for long-term financial security.
Where to Find Anti-Capitalist Financial Advisors:
Cheat sheet: 3 rules for investing
Related Reading:‘Should I put that $1,000 into penny stocks?’
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About This Chapter
YOU CAN SPEND MONEY
Restriction isn’t an effective money management method. Money is meant to be spent, and you can use money however you want. Yield to your inner voice, and let it guide your money moves, instead of looking to an outside set of rules for what you “should” do. Trust your ability to steward the money in your care in a way that’s right for you and the people in your life.
Spending Diary Template
Ideal Day Worksheet
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About This Chapter
YOU CAN GIVE MONEY AWAY
Whatever you own isn’t yours; it’s just in your care for now. Money is a tool to shape the life and world around you. When you hold it in your hands, you hold the responsibility to contribute to that world in a life-giving way. Don’t fear scarcity when you give money away or use it to benefit someone else. Their gain isn’t your loss, because there was never a difference between “your” money and “their” money in the first place.
Related Reading: Want to give back to your community? Pay taxes
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About This Chapter
YOUR BUDGET-FREE LIFE
Divesting from budget culture is more than another strategy to improve your personal financial circumstances; it’s a radical step toward a better way of thinking and talking about money in your life. Your inner work in resistance to budget culture might feel like the least effective, because you won’t see a direct impact on the community or world around you. But it’s the most important step you can take to make any kind of broader change. Without embracing a budget-free approach yourself, you can’t fully participate in action to dismantle budget culture for others.
Related Reading: We closed the hole in the ozone (and we didn't have to stop buying hairspray)
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About This Chapter
TOWARD A BUDGET-FREE SOCIETY
Dismantling budget culture means remaking the world in a way that lets everyone experience the ease of being “rich,” regardless of the numbers in their bank account. Shifting how we think about money away from budget culture norms and toward a more inclusive, budget-free set of shared values and beliefs is about having a new kind of conversation about money. This final chapter is your mini field guide to that conversation.
Resources for Financial Educators
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau for Adults or for Youth
EconEdLink by the Council for Economic Education
Related Reading: We’ve got to stop ignoring politics in personal finance