So I talked about the meta of having a budget and what works for me here.
But now let’s talk about how much money to put where.
This is a very personal thing with your own numbers, But I’ll keep the numbers I choose clearly labeled. This is the simplest way to have a balanced budget
First we’ll need those numbers.
Income. Obviously this is the amount of money that comes in every month. So if you work, figure out your average paycheck. If you receive an allowance, benefits, any thing that adds a postive net value add it here. If you work a job that has inconsistent pay because of tips or hours or whatever, look at your last few paychecks and average it out. My second job’s paychecks have ranged from 50-600$ which is SUPER hard to budget with, so I assume I’ll do 200$ in a month; since it is rare for it to be quite so low or high consistently. It’s better to assume money coming in is lower than it is.
Fixed Costs. These are costs that come up every month. Rent, bills, monthly subscriptions, medications, and other costs. Even if bills change slightly, same as income average it out and use that number.
Needs. This is how much you want to spend each month on groceries, toiletries, keep a section here for “unexpected costs” every month you’ll have something unexpected that you needed the money for. Especially so if you own a car!
Wants. Fun stuff! going out! booze!
The equation for figuring out what goes where is
Income - Fixed Costs = Wants + Needs.
So this is how mine is divided up
Income- from my more consistent job i make about 600 per paycheck and inconsistent i’ll assume 200. So that comes out to 1400/month
Fixed Costs- For me that’s rent, bus pass, and medical costs. I ditched the few subscriptions I had because I hadn’t used them often,. 930/month
Needs- my categories for these are: Groceries(120), work expenses(80), toiletries(30), and self care(20).250/month
be honest! I used to spend way more on going out and booze but by lying on my numbers I was messing up my own budget. if you spend more on a section, shift the money accordingly. If you don’t like where your money is going, it’s up to you to make efforts to change your spending habits. Look for spots you can cut down on or cut out completely.
it’s better to underestimate your income and overestimate your costs
Write down your spending habits! do this for a few weeks or a month and this will give you a better idea of where your money is going than just guesstimating. I came to my numbers after a month of spending like 200 on going out and only 60 on groceries. Use a notebook or app, whatever it will take to get you to be more mindful about where your money is going!!
