[USER]

I’m terrible at budgeting so I just don’t. Every time I’ve tried, there’s something I didn’t plan for or think about that blows it.

[Mark]

Thr last part of ur post leads me to believe u don’t have an emergency fund. Standard is 3 to 6 month of expenses in a liquid account.

I do anti-budgeting because I’m lazy. I do the save first and bucket method. Automate everything. Saving / investing should be your 1st line item. Pay it before any bill. It’s your most important bill. If there is less money that month, cut something else. Do not cut investing.

Then create “buckets” or “sinking funds” for all short term savings goals and monthly expenses. U can create as many accounts or cash management accounts at ur bank / brokerage as u want. Everything is still under one login. Just rename them for the appropriate purpose.

Then u always have money for upcoming bills and u know how much u have dedicated for appropriate short term savings goals.

[Blair]

Don’t budget.

Expense track instead. Use your actual data over a 12 month period to see what your life costs.

Use that data to make adjustments to things you can control. Typically the biggest savings come from the largest categories (rent, transport, food), and the second best place to make adjustments are in recurring expenses like phone bills and subscriptions. One choice can make a big impact.

Don’t miss: I am looking for a better budgeting app – Any suggestions?

[Allison]

I’m lazy. I set everything up to run automatically. The only thing I “budgeted” is utilities/mortgage payment/insurance payments – the “fixed” expenses amount goes into an account and those bills auto draft.

I then auto pay into my investments and savings accounts every paycheck. The only thing I have to control spending on is groceries and personal spending.

Once I break it apart and make things automatic it minimizes how much I have to control and be regularly mindful of.

[Jasmine]

I’m old school. I have a notebook that assigns what is paid with the first check and what is paid with the second — It’s pretty much the same each month, minus a little variety here and there.

[John]

Everyone is suggesting YNAB, which I’ve never heard of. However, my FIRE mentality has a problem paying $100/yr for an app AND giving it access to ALL my financial information.

Call me old school or cheap but set up something in excel or just keep a written log.

[Julie]

I also expense track. I do my best to estimate what expenses will be, but sometimes I am way off. I try to move money around within my budget to account for when I am off in a category. I really love to expense track, I also income track and try to add in extra income wherever I can.

It has been a fun challenge.

[Author]

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