Free money finance is giving away a copy of You Need a Budget Pro budgeting software. To enter you need to write a comment sharing the number one reason a person needs a budget. Here’s what I wrote:

You need a budget because building wealth is not possible without self-discipline.

A budget is an essential tool for setting goals; establishing reasonable boundaries that are necessary for meeting those goals; and measuring your performance and holding you accountable to those boundaries. If you lose ground, a budget will alert you to this fact, and you can adjust your budget to compensate. If you exceed your goals, a budget gives you some freedom to enjoy any excess you are blessed with.

A budget is an essential tool for exercising financial self-discipline!

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Several years ago it was getting increasingly difficult to work from home (which I typically do 1-2 days per week) using dial-up internet access, and I was considering broadband service. It was much more expensive, so I was reluctant to spend money on it. But I asked my manager if my employer would reimburse broadband service — and he immediately agreed to partial reimbursement since I use it so much. As a result, we now pay less out of pocket for home broadband service than we did for dial-up.

Similarly, on three separate occasions I have indicated to my manager that the speed and memory capacity of my work-issue laptop were growing inadequate for work. Twice it was replaced on the same day with a newer model, and more recently the turnaround was a month or so.

In every case I was pleasantly surprised at the readiness, even eagerness, to make sure I had adequate tools to get my job done well. Several friends have had similar experiences, from getting their work-issue cell phones upgraded, to getting their work-issue computers upgraded or replaced.

If you have aging technology tools that you use at least in part for work purposes, consider asking your employer for an upgrade. If you are able to justify how this will help your work, you might just be surprised at how quick your employer is to respond!

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