Hey fellow adults! Obviously you can't budget yourself out of systemic poverty or smart shop your way around these tariffs, but if you were already struggling with your finances or have never shopped for yourself before and were panicking about what you're going to do in this economy, let me explain what budgeting for yourself looks like in a realistic sense.
It's all about establishing your priorities.
Your priorities are going to change a lot between when you're living at home and someone else is paying for you and when you're living on your own and paying for yourself. Your rent (or mortgage!) is going to become a priority, as is your electric, water, and sewage bill. Internet may become a priority and so you might cut down on the amount of streaming services you pay for (or get rid of them entirely) to make up for that.
In this tariff-fueled economy, saving money aside for an expensive emergency should probably become a new priority.
But housing costs aside, another major monthly expense on your budget is food! This is where your priorities really come into play. Your priorities are something you're going to have to figure out, so I encourage you to experiment in order to find them. Wasted food is a way higher expense than expensive food, so don't buy things because you think you should eat them or think you might. Buy what you know you are going to eat in the method you are going to eat it in. Do you like broccoli but don't want to cut it up? Get the bag of precut. Do you feel amazing today and think you could buy a head of broccoli and cut it right away and bag it yourself? Do that and it'll save you some money, but don't buy it if that head is going in your fridge as is and will rot there. Are you only going to eat freezer meals? Then get them. And when they're on sale, you stock way up on your favorites. If you have 6 of your favorite microwave meal in the freezer, that's 6 times you aren't going to resort to Ubereats when you can't figure out what to have.
Also, learn how to store things. You can buy bulk if you know you can store something effectively for a long period of time (I'm talking months) so it will be available when you want it (and the price may have gone up).
You also have to prioritize other goods. Do you have a brand of shampoo you've always used but a cheaper product claims to be similar? Try it out! If it makes your hair feel terrible then go back to your expensive one and that becomes a priority (and priorities mean when it's on sale you buy 2 because you know that's something you have to have). Could you stand to use cheaper soap? Cheaper toilet paper? Don't mind off brand soda? Try the cheaper ones and see. Usually stores have their own version of products that are the same or similar and if you can't tell the difference, buying the knock-off in bulk will save you money. (Knock off medicine is almost always the exact same active ingredients so for over the counter meds you use often get the store's brand in bulk).
If you do notice a difference then prioritize it. Allot for it in your shopping budget.
The point is not to be miserable. The point is to have the things you want most and go cheap on the things you just don't really care about.
This is true for bigger expenses too. Obviously disasters will strike and you'll suddenly need a new car or furnace or have a major medical bill, and that will be expensive and devastating and hopefully does not happen to you! But, you can prioritize your fun things so life doesn't suck but you can still keep a little saved for those disasters.
Let's say you're making above minimum wage. Is going on a destination spa treatment vacation once a year the only thing you look forward to? That's your priority and what you're budgeting for. That means buying tickets early when they're least expensive and cutting costs on other things. Knock off toilet paper won't pay for that so you may need to decide to cut down on dinners to fancy restaurants or getting your nails done or going golfing. You may have to stop buying yourself new clothes when your old clothes fit well.
You aren't rich. You can't just act like rich people and expect your money to follow.
But you want life to feel special.
Maybe a destination vacation to Bali isn't doable, but driving to the coast and having a spa day there is. Maybe eating out somewhere really fancy twice a year is doable but you can't do it every month. Maybe you get a ski pass to a cheaper ski area that's just as close or you pay per visit because you can only go a few times and the season pass is too much.
You've got to be realistic with yourself and with what makes you happy. Do you need to go to the hair salon once a month to feel like a person or can you go once or twice a year and feel fine? Do you have to have a certain type of ice cream in the fridge to bring you down from a meltdown? Do the shoes you're wearing to work cause your feet to hurt so much you can't function after your shift? Will you actually lose out on that promotion at work if you aren't wearing designer clothes? Or do none of those things matter to you?
It isn't a test. Be realistic with yourself and what you need and what you can afford after your necessary expenses. If you could eat beans and rice for every meal and never be bored, do it. If single ply toilet paper is fine with you, buy it. If you could grow your hair out this year no problem, then go for it! Cut costs in every place that doesn't matter to you in order to prioritize the things you want most so you can continue to feel like a human being.
I realize that once you have kids, or for people well and truly below the poverty line working multiple jobs and getting paid way less than you're worth this isn't the most helpful advice because there are things outside your control you have to account for. But if you're just starting out on your own or have never learned how to budget for yourself and you're struggling, this is how you do it.
Keep in mind that pets are wonderful for companionship but they not a cheap one-time expense. They are an ongoing new priority and will require you to restructure your other priorities to accommodate them, so plan accordingly and do not get a pet of any kind if you cannot budget for their comfort.
Being miserable will just make you spend more to handle your inevitable spiral. Figure out where your happiness is and make budget cuts around the things that don't matter. Take the time to figure out where those things are so you can handle your long-run priorities. You've got this!
