• A financial guru has criticized strict budgets, advocating for intuitive spending instead.
• Budget culture is seen as restrictive, leading to potential "budget burnout."
• Experts suggest balancing intuitive spending with realistic budgeting for financial health.

Saving money and paying off debts can feel like an endless cycle, which is why financial gurus are so keen on budgeting.

But Dana Miranda, a certified personal finance educator, told CNBC Make It in a recent interview that strict spending plans can be "toxic."

Miranda, who is also the author of "You Don't Need a Budget," told the outlet that budget culture is based on "restriction, shame, and greed," and there's little concrete evidence it works in the long term.

Instead, she recommended "intuitive spending" and thinking about your money "moment by moment." Rather than punishing themselves for overspending, people should reward themselves when they save, Miranda said.

Not all financial pros are in agreement, though.

Katrin Kaurov, the CEO and cofounder of the social financial platform Frich, told Business Insider it's true that "everyone hates budgeting."

But she isn't convinced intuitive spending is a good alternative. For some, it can increase debt and result in purchases they don't need.

To budget or not to budget

Doug Carey, a chartered financial analyst and founder of the retirement and financial planning software WealthTrace, told BI that whether to budget is a question that comes up with many of his clients.

Generally, he said he disagrees that people must have a set budget and stick to it. As long as someone can max out their 401(k) contributions and save enough for emergencies, "they can use their intuition for spending."

For these people, it is pretty obvious when they are spending too much, Carey said, because they'll dip into savings.

Budgets can be too limiting for people who are more flexible in their income, such as freelancers or contractors, for example, because these systems don't often allow for easy changes.

Carey said the "micromanagement" of daily things can also "obscure the bigger picture of your financial health," such as long-term financial goals such as retirement savings or building wealth.

"This can create a negative association with managing money and lead to 'budget burnout,'" Carey said. "Many give up on budgeting when they feel like they cannot live within the strict limits of the budget."

Trial and error

Budgets can be more universally helpful if they make room for flexibility.

Kaurov told BI that budgeting isn't inherently toxic, "but many people create budgets with too much enthusiasm and optimism for how little money they will spend from month to month."

People spend more during the holidays, for example. So using December's budget in January probably won't work.

Kaurov said a budget should be about creating a realistic guideline for spending and saving. If you've set one you can't follow, you should rethink it, she said.

"Budgeting is a tricky — but important — skill for people to learn when they're starting to manage their money," she said. "Trial and error is crucial and will allow people to find what kind of budget works best for them."

The grass isn't always greener

Intuitive spending sounds like a good idea, but it may be a case of "the grass is always greener," Kaurov added.

"For so many, especially younger people who are often on a tighter budget anyway, it's a really poor financial habit to develop," she said.

For those who are partial to impulsively buying trendy items from social media ads, "intuitive spending" can quickly turn into overspending on things you don't need.

Julie Guntrip, the head of financial wellness at Jenius Bank, told BI that rather than following absolute rules about their spending, people give themselves grace when things don't go to plan.

"Budgeting practices many times fail because people can't stick to them — an individual makes one misstep and decides to give it all up," she said.

A better course of action may be somewhere in the middle.

"Factoring splurges into a budget could be a great compromise for someone who may feel like budgeting is too constraining," Guntrip added. "This practice may actually help someone stick with a budget longer."

• I help people package and monetize their skills, and I've helped my kids do the same.
• From when they were young, they've published books, sold baked goods, and more.
• I encourage these pursuits and talk to them about budgeting and saving money.

I realized early on in my work as a personal branding and executive coach that I had a gift for seeing my clients for who they uniquely were. I could quickly pinpoint a clear opportunity they could tap into to tell their story, share their expertise, or make money from a unique skill.

So, back when my two teens were in elementary school, I intentionally set out to teach them how to boldly package their genius once they had demonstrated skills and services I thought could be marketable.

My sons were open to my suggestions

When my then-9-year-old son Connor wrote a hilarious short story as a fourth-grade class assignment, I encouraged him to keep going and make it longer. I told him that if he wrote a little more, I'd help him publish his story as a book on Amazon.

That motivation proved powerful for a fourth grader, and over the winter holiday break that year, he finished his book "Zombie Tag," which became a playground hit. He wrote two more titles in a series, and they're all still available on Amazon. He did a few book talks and book fairs, and all of his book sale money went into a high-yield CD. He still sells a few copies of his book each month, and all new royalties go directly to a liquid high-yield savings account that he watches grow from an app on his phone.

Logan, who is a year older than Connor, helped with the book marketing and got a percentage of the early sales when they did things like set up at book fairs. Since then, the two have also both earned money from their shared skills; for example, they both had a joint podcast audio editing studio a few years ago with a small roster of clients.

Additionally, they pursue their individual passions, which I encourage. Logan has sold digital art portraits, blank coloring pages, and postcards with original art, and Connor has sold his electronic beats, original podcast theme music he produced on GarageBand, and, most recently, homemade cinnamon rolls. Whenever there is a demand for something they do, I make a point of challenging them to package it in a way a customer can buy — if that's something they're open to doing, which they usually are.

I try to teach them about money and how to save and budget

I think it's important to show them they have agency; they may want to buy concert tickets or new sneakers, but they're not at the mercy of my bank account. My goal has always been to show them that opportunities to make money are as unlimited as their own creativity.

As my children began earning money independently, I encouraged them to save 10-50% of what they made. I've also talked with them about what makes a big purchase "affordable." One lesson that seems to have stuck is that if a purchase will take up more than 10% of their cash on hand, it may be too costly and need to be reconsidered.

That said, they still spend like teens and come to me when they want to buy something out of their budget. But I do believe that once they're on their own and fully financially responsible for themselves, they'll have the basic framework to help them make good money decisions.

I want their creativity to give them a sense of freedom

As a coach, I work with adults who find it difficult to give themselves permission to package their expertise and skills in different ways. I see how hard it is to mentally shift from expecting a paycheck to show up automatically every two weeks to getting creative when you need to earn additional money.

There will inevitably be lean times, and you may need to adapt when fortunes change or might be forced to do something different when the job market dips. I've seen how tough it can be for my clients to flip the switch of monetizing their work. But once they unlock that key skill, they also unlock the peace of mind from knowing they always have what it takes to earn more.

I want my kids to have that now so they're never at the mercy of a toxic boss or job that's not the right fit. I want them to be aware of their innate ability to create opportunities so they aren't always waiting for one to be handed to them. As a mother, I want to give them a sense of their personal power early so they don't fall into the trap of overworking to prove their worth — a trap that too often leads to burnout.

As of now, they've made around $10,000 from book sales, bake sales, audio editing, and digital art sales combined. But whether they make a lot of money from their endeavors or not doesn't matter so much to me. I just want them to be aware that they are powerful and they always have the power to shift their financial futures — regardless of what's happening in the economy.