dont blow it keep it simple count your money

You can do this monthly (and if you get paid monthly, a monthly budget makes sense), but we get paid fortnightly, and I find it’s easier to budget for a pay cycle.īelow I take you through the steps I use to create a budget.

That means you decide how you’re going to spend your pay before you get it.

I use automation, so I don’t have to track every cent we spend.Ī budget is a plan for your pay.

I couple my budget with a modern envelope system so I don’t have to worry about big bills throwing the budget.

I have a “Yes!” buffer in my budget, which I’ll explain below.

My budget is based on a pay cycle rather than a month.

Here’s how the budgeting system I use is different: While the budget I use is similar to a zero-based budget, it varies in some critical ways. The good news is I found a better way to budget that turned failure into saving success. My accounting boss once told me that budgets aren’t meant to be followed, and that was a red flag for me. I know this sounds a bit dodgy, but I no longer think the problem was me the problem is how traditional budgets are built. That’s right! I failed to stick to my budget 100% of the time. I used to prepare an elaborate budget (because I used to be an accountant and still love spreadsheets) and then track my expenses to see if I stuck to my budget or not. You create another budget (again!?) and do it all over. The next step is to track all your expenses during the month to make sure you stick to your plan.

This is good in that you’re being proactive with your money and making every dollar count.īut it can be hard to stick to and a lot of work because… In other words, every cent of your income is allocated in your budget to either savings, living expenses, or debt repayments. Income – Savings – Debt Repayments – Expenses = 0 It’s zero-based because when you take your expenses/savings/repayments away from your income, your budget should equal zero. Then you deduct your expenses from your income. In the standard zero-based budget, you create a budget every month by adding up all of your income and then adding up all of your expenses, savings and debt repayments. You should always consult a qualified financial expert when making money decisions to tailor plans to suit your circumstances.īut before I get into my system, let me briefly explain how the standard zero-based budget works. In this blog, I share my savings and budget planning and what works for us. It’s similar to the standard zero-based budget, but there are a few key differences that make it easier to manage.ĭisclaimer: This is general information only. In this article, I’m going to share a variation to the zero-based budget – one I find more effective for our situation. It was popularised by the American personal finance bloke Dave Ramsey. You may have heard of the budgeting system called a zero-based budget (if you haven’t, I’ll describe it below.) Looking for a way to create a simple budget that works? In this article I’m sharing the one that works for us.

Dont blow it keep it simple count your money