Let's Talk About "You Don't Need a Budget"

Plus, announcing the next Book for Thriving Creatives

Time to talk about our first book, You Don’t Need a Budget: Stop Worrying About Debt, Spend Without Shame, and Manage Money With Ease by Dana Miranda!

Now, it’s important to me that each of you realize that all of us will have a different reaction to the book. Bits that meant more to you than others. And, because this book is an anti-capitalist book about personal finance, its ideas can resonate personally while feeling radically political. As such, you may have hugged the book to your chest or thrown it across the room.

This is not a book for everyone. It’s for the weirdos and the outcasts, the impoverished and those who live unconventional lives. The ideas Miranda shared in this book made me think differently, not just about money and my resources, but how these ideas can be applied to my creative life.

With that in mind, the ideas that made the most impact for my creative life are these:

• Reframing the emergency fund as the comfort fund because it encourages me to spend on things that make my life more pleasant like writing classes and an ongoing editor.

• Focusing on the big rocks and letting the rest take care of itself. This comes from the parable Miranda told early in the book about a professor filling a jar. He started with the big rocks, filling the jar with all of them he could get in. He continues with pebbles, then sand and finally water. When you fill your jar in that way, then you get everything in the jar. But, if you were to start with the water, then you couldn’t fit any of the rest of it into the jar. She suggests this as a way to look at your financial goals, but I will carry it further into my creative work because there are always large and small goals, and sometimes I get distracted by the small goals and then don’t have the energy to make the big goals happen.

• “The difference between seeing scarcity in the world and seeing abundance is understanding that whatever you own isn’t truly yours; it’s just in your care for now.” This is a radical thought (and, full disclosure, I read a lot of Indigenous nature writing so it’s not a new concept for me). If this idea was embraced widely, would people recognize the need to preserve our natural resources for future generations? But more than that, it shapes the way I look at all of my possessions and makes me want to use them to the best of my ability, or pass them along to someone else who can. Which makes me feel abundant in both what I own and the generosity of having things that I can give to someone else.

What lesson from the book resonated strongest with you? How are you planning to put it into action?

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Time to pick up The Elements of Humor: The Tools of Comedy That Make You Funnier, Happier, and Better Looking by Scott Dikkers.

Even if you’ve never considered creating anything funny or consider yourself a comic author, integrating the tools of comedy improves your writing, marketing and art in unexpected ways. As the cover says, “Whether you’re aiming to craft funny content, boost your speech delivery with laughs, or just be funnier in everyday interactions, this book covers essential strategies including self-deprecation and the art of wordplay.” Join us in reading ten pages per (week)day of The Elements of Humor and watch your words begin to sparkle!

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I’m LA (as in tra-la-la) Bourgeois, a writer and KMCC-certified creativity coach dedicated to walking with you through any transition! Whether you’re looking to deepen your relationship with your art or patrons, explore a new possibility, or ignite the passion for creativity again, I’ve got your back. Click here to explore becoming a member of the Coaching Cohort or contact me at la@labourgeois.biz to ask questions and schedule an exploratory call.