What's involved in your budgeting method? (lemmy.world)

submitted 10 months ago by LesserAbe@lemmy.world to c/asklemmy@lemmy.world

32 comments fedilink hide all child comments

I think budgeting and practical finances should be taught at multiple stages throughout a student's life. I thought I knew the general idea but didn't appreciate how much neglecting it would set me back.

What is your process for budgeting? As a starting point this article lists a few methods.

I use zero based budgeting where every dollar is assigned a purpose. I don't end up sticking exactly to the plan, but I do keep a spreadsheet which lists my current balances and all expected expenses, so I can see my future balance and avoid going in the red. A couple times a month I cross off expenses which have been paid and update the balance. This is especially helpful to me because a big portion of my income is irregular month to month.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments

[-] gerryflap@feddit.nl 5 points 10 months ago

None really. I think I've always been in a privileged enough position that I never really needed to worry. I'm not a big impulse buyer and tend to regulate myself on this. If I buy something that I don't really use as much as I thought I would, it annoys me so much that I become much more conservative with spending in the following weeks/months. It kinda self-regulates.

I don't have a car, and instead bike everywhere or use public transport which saves me a lot of money. This is again a privilege, because I managed to land an affordable place to live that's close to work.

My only way of keeping track of all this is the division between my payment and savings accounts. If my payment account goes above a certain value, I move money to my savings account. As long as this keeps happening regularly, like it has for years, I have nothing to worry about. Obviously I do check the details of my spending every now and then, but nothing organised.

this post was submitted on 03 Jan 2024

83 points (97.7% liked)

Ask Lemmy

26669 readers

1800 users here now

A Fediverse community for open-ended, thought provoking questions

Please don't post about US Politics.

Rules: (interactive)

1) Be nice and; have fun

Doxxing, trolling, sealioning, racism, and toxicity are not welcomed in AskLemmy. Remember what your mother said: if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all. In addition, the site-wide Lemmy.world terms of service also apply here. Please familiarize yourself with them

2) All posts must end with a '?'

This is sort of like Jeopardy. Please phrase all post titles in the form of a proper question ending with ?

3) No spam

Please do not flood the community with nonsense. Actual suspected spammers will be banned on site. No astroturfing.

4) NSFW is okay, within reason

Just remember to tag posts with either a content warning or a [NSFW] tag. Overtly sexual posts are not allowed, please direct them to either !asklemmyafterdark@lemmy.world or !asklemmynsfw@lemmynsfw.com. NSFW comments should be restricted to posts tagged [NSFW].

5) This is not a support community.

It is not a place for 'how do I?', type questions. If you have any questions regarding the site itself or would like to report a community, please direct them to Lemmy.world Support or email info@lemmy.world. For other questions check our partnered communities list, or use the search function.

Reminder: The terms of service apply here too.