The Happy Giraffe Budget

By Nigel Bloomfield and Laura Bloomfield

If you have failed at budgeting before, if just seeing the word "budget" makes you feel anxious, worried, and even shameful, then maybe you aren't the problem. Maybe it's the budget you used that is broken. We are here to fix that. There's a way to budget that is simple, empowering, and that can even add happiness to your life. The Happy Giraffe Budget.  

Using a children's style story about a giraffe learning how to budget, we'll walk you through the reasons most systems just don't work well. Then we'll show how to fix it all with something completely new. All of the material and help you need is available to download for free. We believe in the importance of budgeting so much that we created a nonprofit to help people just like you. All proceeds from the book go toward supporting our mission of helping everyone find happiness in budgeting.

• Language: English
• Publisher: The Happy Giraffe Company
• Release date: Nov 1, 2023
• ISBN: 9798223310709

Book preview

The Happy Giraffe Budget Copyright © 2022 The Happy Giraffe Company

All rights reserved

Authors: Nigel Bloomfield and Laura Bloomfield

Illustrations: Jay Fontano

HappyGiraffe.org

Information contained herein does not constitute investment advice.

All proceeds from this book go to The Happy Giraffe Company, a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit company

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 - The Story Of The Happy Giraffe

Chapter 2 - Why This Matters

Chapter 3 - The Elephant

Income First

Honesty

Empowered

Chapter 4 - The Lion

Income Is Not The Issue

Chapter 5 - The Chipmunk

A Budget Is More Than Just Saving Money

A Budget Doesn't Create Money

Have An Emergency Fund

Chapter 6 - The Jay

No Typical Month

Too Many Categories

Fixed And Variable

Puppet Master/Puppet

Trade-offs And Consequences Are Hard To See

Chapter 7 - The Giraffe

Breakthrough #1 - Estimating Income AND Expenses

Breakthrough #2 - How To Handle Variable Expenses

The Happy Giraffe Budget Steps

Wrapping It Up

Chapter 8 - How This Fixes Everything

Fixing The Puppet Master And The Puppet Dynamic

Weekly Is Essential

What This New Relationship Means

Chapter 9 – Even More Ways This Fixes Everything

Making Big Spending Decisions

Rollover

Smooths Out The Bumps In The Road

Makes It Easier To Have A Conversation

Chapter 10 - The Nitty Gritty

Cash Flow

Using The Spreadsheet

Benefits Of The Spreadsheet

No More Cash Flow Issues

Chapter 11 - The Nitty Gritty, Continued

Get Started, Make Mistakes, And Keep Going

Don't Live Off The Bank Balance

You Can Still Do Dumb Things

Savings For Bigger Items

Any Day Of The Week

Tracking Is Critically Important

Jealousy Happens

Chapter 12 – The End

Bonus Giraffe Facts

Chapter 1 - The Story Of The Happy Giraffe

In a land full of animals, when giraffes become of age, they are given a tree. For some, the tree seems to have an endless supply of leaves. For others, not quite so many. One giraffe in particular was given just an average tree in an average plot of land, and yet he is known throughout all the land as The Happy Giraffe. He wasn’t always this way, though. Let’s go back to his first days after receiving his tree…

Happy Giraffe getting new tree

The giraffe was so excited to get a tree. It was not too big, but not too small either. He was on his own for the first time and ready to take on the world; it was definitely a day for celebration! He ate a leaf from his newly-claimed tree. It was so satisfying and exhilarating that he ate another...and another...and another. Until he realized that his leaves were all gone.

What do I do now? he worried out loud. All my leaves are gone and it will be weeks before my tree grows more!

Overwhelmed by the thought of having no leaves, he slumped down below his tree and cried.

Elephant talking to sad giraffe

Why the long face, Long Neck? asked an elephant passing by.

I am all out of leaves and it’s only my first day! the giraffe cried. The leaves were delicious, but there wasn't enough of them.

Nonsense! You have enough leaves. You just need to be like an elephant, came the reply. We never forget a thing, you know! We keep track of everything we’ve ever eaten and write it down. That helps us know what we will need to do for the next growing season.

It seemed smart. You can’t know what you are going to need until you know what you’ve needed in the past, right? So, the giraffe thanked the elephant, who went on his way.

Giraffe counting piles of leaves

The next growing season the giraffe took careful notes of everything he ate.

Day 1: ate four leaves for breakfast, gave two leaves to the landowner for tree rent, ate five leaves for dinner, and gave one leaf to the bird in the top of my tree.

Day 2: ate two leaves for breakfast, ate two leaves for lunch, and took six leaves to a dinner party.

He was very proud of himself for being remarkably meticulous, just as the elephant had suggested. However, a short while into the growing season he ran out of leaves again. How could this happen when he had tried so hard to do what the elephant said?

The elephant was smart to write down everything he used, the giraffe thought, but it didn’t help me plan for what I need now or stop me from using all of my leaves too soon. So how do I make it through a whole growing season?

Distraught again, he slumped down below his tree and cried.

Lion talking to sad giraffe

Why the long face, Long Neck? asked a lion passing by.

I am all out of leaves AGAIN! the giraffe cried. I tracked everything I did just like the elephant told me to do, but it was no use! I need to make it through the whole growing season, but I don’t know how.

The lion quickly and excitedly responded, You don’t need to keep track of every little thing like that! What you need is more leaves!

That's what I told the elephant, the giraffe said.

Then obviously you are a smart giraffe and I have the perfect program for you! Just get your friends and neighbors to trade their leaves for this new invention. They will love it and I guarantee that you will have more leaves than you know what to do with! Better yet, you can sign them up to sell this invention too. That makes you even more leaves without doing any of the work yourself!

What a plan! Yes, the giraffe was certain the lion was right. He did need more leaves. So, he signed up and the lion was on his way.

Giraffe pointing to pyramid scheme chart

Soon after visiting a few neighbors, the giraffe realized that not many of them wanted to trade their leaves for what he had to offer. The giraffe became very discouraged and stopped trying to sell altogether.

The lion was certainly a good salesman, he thought, something I am definitely not! If I can’t make more leaves, then I guess I need to be more careful with the leaves I do have. But how do I make it through a whole growing season?

Distraught again, he slumped down below his tree and cried.

Why the long face, Long Neck? asked a small chipmunk passing by.

I don’t have enough leaves, and I can’t earn more, the giraffe cried. I tracked everything like the elephant told me to do. I tried to sell like the lion told me to do, but it was no use! I need to make it through the whole growing season, but I don’t know how.

Chipmunk talking to sad giraffe

The chipmunk scurried around the giraffe’s tree. Well, where are your saved leaves? she asked.

Saved leaves? replied the giraffe. I don’t have any saved leaves.

Shaking her head in disapproval, the chipmunk continued. Saving is the most important thing you can do! You won’t have to earn more leaves if you just save what you already have! To make it easy you can just save one leaf the first day, two leaves the second day, three leaves the third day, and so on. By the end of the growing season, you will have hundreds of saved leaves!

That seemed like a great idea! The giraffe would never go hungry again if he had hundreds of saved leaves! This chipmunk was completely right! With a thanks from the excited giraffe, the chipmunk was on her way.

Happy giraffe with one giant bag of leaves

When the growing season began, the giraffe did just what the chipmunk had said to do. He saved one leaf the first day, and two leaves the second day. But after a month he was out of leaves on his tree! It was impossible to save 30 leaves a day and still have enough to eat. Luckily he had his stored leaves, but even those ran out quickly.

The chipmunk was a great saver, he thought, and saving IS a good idea. But she wanted me to save something I don’t even have! Her plan didn’t help me get through one growing season, let alone forever! So how do I make it through a whole growing season?

Distraught again, he slumped down below his tree and cried.

Why the long face, Long Neck? asked a jay flying by.

I don’t have enough leaves. I can’t earn more leaves. I don’t even have enough leaves to save! the giraffe cried. I tracked everything like the elephant told me to do. I tried to sell like the lion told me to do. I tried to save like the chipmunk told me to do, but it was no use! I need to make it through the whole growing season, but I don’t know how.

Well, explained the jay, you need to budget your leaves.

I thought that is what I HAVE been doing! snapped the frustrated giraffe.

Not exactly, replied the jay. You need to organize the leaves you have. Make up different boxes of leaves for each of the ways you use them. Put only what you will need into those boxes. Then you need some self-control. If the box is empty you just have to wait until the next growing season before you can use those kinds of leaves again.

Jay talking to sad giraffe

This made sense. What a great way to be organized AND help with self-control. There was no way that the giraffe would mess this one up. He got to work right away making boxes for his leaves and labeling them for each reason he might need them throughout the season: meals, friends, birthdays, holidays, sick days, rent, charities … you get the idea.

When the next growing season began, he picked every single leaf from his tree and put each of them in their designated boxes.

Happy giraffe with boxes of leaves labeled for their uses

This was working great! Things were finally looking up for the giraffe. Until one day when he had to miss a picnic because all of his picnic leaves had already been used up. Then there was another time when he couldn’t give his friend a birthday gift because all of his