Meet Chris Thomas | CEO @ Budgetocity

We had the good fortune of connecting with Chris Thomas and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Chris, do you have a budget? How do you make lifestyle and spending decisions?
I absolutely have a budget! I need a budget. I don’t trust myself without a budget. But a budget to me isn’t restrictive, it’s quite the opposite. It’s freedom to me. It’s the ability to not have to stress about whether I’ll have enough money at the end of the month. Sure, I may have to make some tough decisions on whether or not I need that new pair of shoes, but I have the freedom to make that decision because the data is right there in front of me. It all comes back to your “why”. My budget should reflect my why and thus my decision making. So for example, if my why is to save enough money to buy a PS5, I would expect that my budget has more money going towards savings of some sort. If my why is to invest into my 401k for college, I would expect my budget to show more money going into the 401k. If my why is to pay off all my debt, I would expect my budget to show that more money is going towards debt payments rather than new clothes or whatever.

My lifestyle and spending decisions have become more about my goals or my “why” rather than my emotions as I continue to get older. Going out to eat has always been my biggest crutch. I don’t really like cooking, and I definitely don’t like cleaning after I cook. My wife realized that we were spending way too much money on eating out based on our budget, and it didn’t align with our “why”. So we made a fun challenge, #NoEatOutOctober, where we didn’t eat out except for 3 strikes for all of October. We finished that and we feel so much better. But more importantly, we were able to take that money we didn’t use for eating out and put it towards our why within our budget. It’s been a great experience, but I don’t think we would have been able to make the decision to challenge ourselves if we weren’t budgeting our money and keeping track of our transactions. That’s why it’s so important to be budgeting even if it’s not with Budgetocity. Personal finance is super important. Budgetocity just makes it easier. Most folks are living paycheck to paycheck and then try to budget based on a monthly expense schedule. We let you budget however you want based on when you get paid. That small change in how I budgeted helped me so much and I haven’t gone back since. It is truly a game changer.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
Budgetocity is a budgeting app that is focused on redefining how you budget. For most of my life, I’ve been trying to budget based around my monthly expenses. The only problem is that is not how my job pays me. Insert Budgetocity. Budgetocity focuses on budgeting based on your income schedule rather than your monthly expenses. Budgetocity will worry about the timing of everything. All you need to do is be an active participant. This has helped me personally more than anything. From a business perspective, budgeting is a tough industry. You have some giants in the space but in general, we help folks with money which is a huge stressor in everyone’s life, and honestly, sometimes we don’t want to talk about. So continuing to get momentum has been tough when building this business, but we continue to look back to our goal. Our goal is not to make the most money. Our goal is really to help folks through tough times and help them take control of their finances. I know it’s cliché but that is truly why we do it and that has kept us going through some slow times. This is still my side hustle so those long nights after work to continue to make progress with the user experience or adding that new feature that we think will help folks use the app better have been challenging. But getting an email saying that Budgetocity helped get a family on track and now they are crushing it from a personal finance can’t be replaced. It’s a great feeling, and I wouldn’t change it for the world.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
The first thing you have to do is get some breakfast. I’m a big breakfast guy. My go to breakfast stop is Whistle Britches for their Chicken and Waffles. They are the best in Dallas. From there, we are heading downtown to check out the Dallas Aquarium. I just recently visited and was super impressed with the animals and the whole ambiance. For lunch, I’m stopping by Klyde Warren Park from some relaxation and some food truck action. I could probably stay there for a whole week trying all the food. After that, we would head over to the Perot Museum and then the Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza. From there finish the day off at Y.O. Steakhouse for a cool ambiance and some wild game dishes and don’t forget the Crème Brulé to make the complete meal. This is the perfect day to show off a bunch of different spots and the beauty of Dallas.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
My family is super important to me and is the reason that I am where I’m at today. They have supported me through thick and thin. From when I was a young boy working with my grandfather to my loving wife putting up with my long hours and constant joking around, I have been loved and supported, and I am eternally grateful for that!

Website: https://www.budgetocity.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/budgetocity

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/therealchristhomas/

Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/budgetocity

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/budgetocity

Other: Personal Twitter: @truechristhomas