Here’s my problem with family budgets: most budgeting tools I’ve seen really mess things up by focusing on lack. They assume that the income you have right now is all you’ll ever have, and so you need to cut expenses—don’t take that vacation, don’t buy your kids anything, don’t buy anything, and just save, save, save all you can from your current income. Look, that’s all fine, but this focus on lack is actually hurting you and quite likely training your family and children to repeat the cycle of lack for another generation.

So, the question is, how can I be a good steward of money while also embracing an abundance mindset? I’m going to give you some tools for this, and trust me, you won’t find these anywhere else, but it’s so simple. Welcome to Success Sundays with Harrison. I’m your host, Harrison Wilder, a corporate strategist and entrepreneur with an executive MBA from George Washington University. I’ve managed multi-million dollar companies and advised top-level executives across various industries. In this show, you’ll find practical insights to help you succeed as a leader in today’s business environment.

The Reality of My Family Budget

First of all, a disclaimer: my family budget is in a hot mess right now, and I’ve got teenagers who are not afraid to spend money, and I think it’s awesome. But I was checking my debit card statement the other day, and I saw that DoorDash made three separate deliveries to my house for lunch on the same day. My instinct, of course, was to blast the family group text and say, “Hey, we need to get this under control.” But then I remembered how grateful I am that my children have an abundance mindset. Most of the time, they believe that everything they need or desire is available to them. That’s going to serve them so much better than just mastering physical discipline. Physical discipline is great, don’t get me wrong, but the abundance mindset will serve them much more.

It wasn’t always this way in the Wilder House. There have been times where we had to be very intentional and focused about where we allocated our money. I’ve seen two extremes in our community of faith. On one side, people live by faith only, not paying any attention to money—they just pray, and God provides. On the other side, some people live strictly by a budget, not paying any attention to faith. They allocate their money rigidly and hope that someday things will change.

Creating a Vision Based Budget

Here’s what we’re going to talk about today: the family budget. Instead of starting with your current income, what if you began your budgeting process with your dreams and vision for the next year? Pray and involve your whole family. Make a list of everything you feel God is speaking to you that you’re supposed to do this year—giving goals, family vacations, food budgets, everything. Write down a month’s worth of expenses, including rent or mortgage, food, vacations, repairs, car payments, maintenance, and more. Don’t limit yourself. Write it all out.

After listing your dream expenses for the year, add a column for the actual amounts. If you love spreadsheets, use Excel or Google Sheets. If not, just write it out on paper. Then, involve your family in prioritizing these expenses. Discuss and agree on what’s most important.

Next, make columns for all your known income sources—your salary, your spouse’s job, investment income, rental income, etc. Start assigning these income sources to the expenses based on their priority. Once you’ve allocated all your known income, you might find some expenses still unfunded. This is where the faith column comes in.

Create a faith column for the expenses that exceed your known income. This represents what you’re relying on God to provide. Knowing these faith needs can release creative energy within you to find ways to meet them. You’ll be surprised at the creative solutions and opportunities that come to mind once you have a clear vision of what you need.

The Power of Hope and Creativity

Hope is a positive thing, and having a number in your faith column helps release creative energy for finding solutions. You’ll start to see opportunities and ways to meet those needs. It could be selling items you no longer need, offering services, or starting a new business venture. Your mind will go to work on finding solutions once you make your needs clear.

Success Challenge of the Week

We don’t like to end any episode without giving you the success challenge of the week. Today’s challenge is simple: sit down with your family and write out all the expenses you dream of for the next year. Don’t limit yourself. List everything, from travel and education to new business investments and lifestyle upgrades. Write down the annual expenses for your ideal year and then get to work on the rest.

If you have any questions for me, especially about this, post them in the comments. My team and I love to hear from you, and it helps us create content that’s valuable and helpful. Drop your questions in the comments, and my team will bring them to me for future episodes.

Have a great week, and we’ll see you in the next episode. If you enjoyed today’s episode, remember that great businesses and great leaders are built using effective communication. For more, go to speakingschool.com and grab my Elite Business Success Toolkit for free by trying out our speaking school membership. That’s speakingschool.com. See you next time.