Budgets Are Sexy

It’s okay, you can be honest here — it’s a safe zone. I won’t make fun of you :) Do you check ’em 5 times a day?  A week?  Once a month? I like to check mine at LEAST once a day.  Every single morning to start the day off right.  And then followed by my blog stats ;)

But unlike your blog stats (which are just as addictive, mind you), there are actually two REALLY good reasons why checking on your accounts regularly is a smart thing to do:

1) You catch errors! And sometimes they’re pretty stupid ones too.  But if you’re not in your account poking around that often, you can pass them up pretty easily.  It’s actually kinda annoying too — that you always have to be looking your stuff over in case some jackal made a mistake that’s costing you money.  And unfortunately it’s not like you can predict it cuz people make mistakes randomly all the time! But the sooner you catch them, the sooner you can get ’em fixed up and back on track again.  (And the more you review your accounts, the less transactions you have to monitor that day cuz you’re always up to speed.)

2) You aquire MOTIVATION. And this, to me, is by FAR the most important reason to be watchin’ those accounts all the time.  Whether it’s debt, savings, 401(k) – when you see those numbers moving in a direction you’re proud of,  it really gets you pumped up man.  Seeing those amounts go up little by little every week, or your debt go down down down, is some powerful stuff.

In fact, that’s what finally got it all to “sink in” with me.  The day I logged into my 401(k) and saw over $5,000 sitting in there.  It was crazy.  All those little amounts over the years adding up behind my back and reaching into the thousands.  I was in awe.  And then, as you know, I kicked it up a notch ;)  Cuz the thing I realized was that if you NEVER touch that money you’re saving, it only moves in one direction:  UP! It’s obvious as $hit, I know, but until you *really* grasp that and actually DO IT, it never hits you the right way.

So that’s why I check my accounts every single day.  I want to know that my money is safe from all those jokers out there, and I want as much motivation as I can get.  I’d gladly trade 30 seconds of my time for that. Plus, it’s just straight up fun ;)  Is that why you guys check it so much too?

Originally published at budgetsaresexy.com.