Budgeting isn't as straightforward as it seems

[oll]

A few years ago, I noticed my money was going out incoherently. So, from that moment on, I decided to keep track of how much I was spending and on what. I downloaded a budgeting app.
I divided it into categories: public transportation, health, groceries, household items, taxis, cat, other expenses, entertainment, rent, and clothing.
And I started keeping track of it month after month. It seemed simple. But listen up. I calculated my average monthly expenses and decided that this would allow me to forecast my expenses and understand my remaining funds. But when my work and investing started to go south, I was horrified because I realized I wouldn't have enough money next month. I was very worried, because I'd been able to see how much I was spending for years (I tried to be frugal). Now I've lived through a month spending 20 percent less than usual, without restricting myself from basic needs.

Why?

It turns out that our income dictates our expenses.  I realized that because I was earning well each month, I was indulging in more without really noticing it.
So, when you're budgeting, always look at both sides: how much you spend and how much you earn. The latter figure has a much greater impact than most people realize.

[BIT-BENDER]

The income brought it is also very important when budgeting, because that's actually what is being budgetged, it's not rocket science to know that your income is important in budgeting because it is actually the principal subject.

In between when budgeting you can add emergency fund, there you can send some amount into during the budget because who knows when things goes south those funds there could really help you not to derail too far from your specific target, until you get back your source of income.

[MArsland]

It turns out that our income dictates our expenses.  I realized that because I was earning well each month, I was indulging in more without really noticing it.
So, when you're budgeting, always look at both sides: how much you spend and how much you earn. The latter figure has a much greater impact than most people realize.

While still working and earning a salary you must have savings for emergency needs with the amount of money for the next 6 months. Now you have done the calculation of expenses every month for example $500 per month means that in the account must be at least $3000 available. This emergency fund is prepared if one day you are laid off or your financial condition is deteriorating so that you have time to survive a few months and re-arrange to find another income.
There's nothing wrong with pampering yourself because it's your right but with a note that you've already set aside income to emergency savings.

[Jostle]

One way that was advocated is to set aside the first X% of your income (regardless of how much it is) for retirement/investment. So if your income goes up, so does the absolute amount that goes into investment/retirement. This makes it more sustainable.

Or you could even increase the X% more when your absolute income goes up. That way, your investment/retirement goes up more when your income increases. I tend to do this.

[Gozie51]

Why?

It turns out that our income dictates our expenses.  I realized that because I was earning well each month, I was indulging in more without really noticing it.
So, when you're budgeting, always look at both sides: how much you spend and how much you earn. The latter figure has a much greater impact than most people realize.

I think in budgeting, the most important thing to do first is to put your savings out and that is part of budgeting. In economics, savings is important to diversification. So at least 20% should go to savings and for investment depending on how much you earn. The higher you earn, the higher the percentage of savings required. The next budget to look at is shelter because you need a roof over your head before anything. This should take like 10%. Feeding and other needs can take up to 30% percentage because you also need to feed well to avoid health issues or at least to reduce such challenge. The remaining 40% should be health and emergency and the unused can fall back to savings for that month and on like that in the next month. Budgeting is very good because it helps you live an organized live based on your income. If you don't plan based on your salary, you might run into debt without knowing you have eaten yourself up into debt.

[bitLeap]

A few years ago, I noticed my money was going out incoherently. So, from that moment on, I decided to keep track of how much I was spending and on what. I downloaded a budgeting app.
I divided it into categories: public transportation, health, groceries, household items, taxis, cat, other expenses, entertainment, rent, and clothing.
And I started keeping track of it month after month. It seemed simple. But listen up. I calculated my average monthly expenses and decided that this would allow me to forecast my expenses and understand my remaining funds. But when my work and investing started to go south, I was horrified because I realized I wouldn't have enough money next month. I was very worried, because I'd been able to see how much I was spending for years (I tried to be frugal). Now I've lived through a month spending 20 percent less than usual, without restricting myself from basic needs.

Why?

It turns out that our income dictates our expenses.  I realized that because I was earning well each month, I was indulging in more without really noticing it.
So, when you're budgeting, always look at both sides: how much you spend and how much you earn. The latter figure has a much greater impact than most people realize.

In today's economic conditions, unnecessary purchases will only bring us closer to the crisis.
Spending disproportionate to income will always be a problem. When you realize that financial conditions are uncertain and faced with basic needs, I often feel overwhelmed to deal with it. But about shopping and basic needs we can actually manage, reduce purchases that are not important and focus on accumulating as much money as possible while the salary is still stable.

[Oshosondy]

So, when you're budgeting, always look at both sides: how much you spend and how much you earn. The latter figure has a much greater impact than most people realize.

It is very important for people to know how much they spend, but I do not have weekly calculations for it at all, probably because I do not spend more than 15 to 20% of the amount of money that I am earning. So I just take 20% from my weekly earning and which I budget for spending. In most time, I do not finish spending it throughout the whole week.

But if anyone is noticing that he is spending not wisely, he can calculate how he is spending the money. Sometimes what caused it is because the amount of money earned is not that much, though it can be enough.

[oll]

The income brought it is also very important when budgeting, because that's actually what is being budgetged, it's not rocket science to know that your income is important in budgeting because it is actually the principal subject.

In between when budgeting you can add emergency fund, there you can send some amount into during the budget because who knows when things goes south those funds there could really help you not to derail too far from your specific target, until you get back your source of income.

Surprisingly, my income varied from month to month, which allowed me to indulge more. I could have saved more throughout my life, but I was absolutely certain I was already living frugally. I don't like iPhones or designer clothing. But as it turns out, there's always room to cut back on my needs.

It turns out that our income dictates our expenses.  I realized that because I was earning well each month, I was indulging in more without really noticing it.
So, when you're budgeting, always look at both sides: how much you spend and how much you earn. The latter figure has a much greater impact than most people realize.

While still working and earning a salary you must have savings for emergency needs with the amount of money for the next 6 months. Now you have done the calculation of expenses every month for example $500 per month means that in the account must be at least $3000 available. This emergency fund is prepared if one day you are laid off or your financial condition is deteriorating so that you have time to survive a few months and re-arrange to find another income.
There's nothing wrong with pampering yourself because it's your right but with a note that you've already set aside income to emergency savings.

It's true. An emergency fund is essential for a comfortable life. It's more important than it seems, because living paycheck to paycheck is a stressful existence that affects your health.

One way that was advocated is to set aside the first X% of your income (regardless of how much it is) for retirement/investment. So if your income goes up, so does the absolute amount that goes into investment/retirement. This makes it more sustainable.

Or you could even increase the X% more when your absolute income goes up. That way, your investment/retirement goes up more when your income increases. I tend to do this.

It's great that you're doing this, but my income varies greatly from month to month, sometimes dramatically. And sometimes there are tough days.

I think in budgeting, the most important thing to do first is to put your savings out and that is part of budgeting. In economics, savings is important to diversification. So at least 20% should go to savings and for investment depending on how much you earn. The higher you earn, the higher the percentage of savings required. The next budget to look at is shelter because you need a roof over your head before anything. This should take like 10%. Feeding and other needs can take up to 30% percentage because you also need to feed well to avoid health issues or at least to reduce such challenge. The remaining 40% should be health and emergency and the unused can fall back to savings for that month and on like that in the next month. Budgeting is very good because it helps you live an organized live based on your income. If you don't plan based on your salary, you might run into debt without knowing you have eaten yourself up into debt.

Absolutely right. And you're right about allocating 30 percent of your budget to food. That's how it works for me. A friend of mine thought she could save money on this, but now she's spending it on her own treatment. A lack of vitamins is no joke.

In today's economic conditions, unnecessary purchases will only bring us closer to the crisis.
Spending disproportionate to income will always be a problem. When you realize that financial conditions are uncertain and faced with basic needs, I often feel overwhelmed to deal with it. But about shopping and basic needs we can actually manage, reduce purchases that are not important and focus on accumulating as much money as possible while the salary is still stable.

Your comment hits home with the harsh reality. My friends are being laid off or having their salaries cut. There's instability everywhere right now. And it's hard when we have to learn the limits of our ability to save.

It is very important for people to know how much they spend, but I do not have weekly calculations for it at all, probably because I do not spend more than 15 to 20% of the amount of money that I am earning. So I just take 20% from my weekly earning and which I budget for spending. In most time, I do not finish spending it throughout the whole week.

But if anyone is noticing that he is spending not wisely, he can calculate how he is spending the money. Sometimes what caused it is because the amount of money earned is not that much, though it can be enough.

It's true that you don't need to keep track of every expense if your income is good. It's enough to simply have an inner conviction about saving and a guideline to avoid overspending. It's a frugal lifestyle, like that of the Swedes, for example.

[Hypnotizer]

~
It turns out that our income dictates our expenses.  I realized that because I was earning well each month, I was indulging in more without really noticing it.
So, when you're budgeting, always look at both sides: how much you spend and how much you earn. The latter figure has a much greater impact than most people realize.

Budgeting shouldn’t only be about keeping track of how much you spend, it should be about planning how to spend it and what the necessary expenses are and what you can compromise without affecting the quality of your life.

When your income reduces, you’ll naturally cut down some expenses to balance your living and expenses like entertainment and whatnot are usually the first to go out of the way.  Likewise when your income increases, you’ll start to bring in more expenses without even realizing.

[Obim34]

It turns out that our income dictates our expenses.  I realized that because I was earning well each month, I was indulging in more without really noticing it.
So, when you're budgeting, always look at both sides: how much you spend and how much you earn. The latter figure has a much greater impact than most people realize.

When budgeting, it is important to have financial discipline, even when the unexpected happens. Once you've gathered an amount for a particular purpose, discipline prevents you from spending the money. Sometimes, I budget for what I would spend in two months from a day, how the money comes in and the way it goes out, what remains as extra, and if i need to reduce my expenses within a particular period.

A practical way to be on budget is writing down all expenses before the money comes in. After completing any expenses from the list, you can then cancel them from the list, all new expenses should be added, and just like that, your income is controlled without going over budget.

[Alvin_talk]

Good that you've learnt your lesson. Budgeting is a good financial practice if you are paying attention to things. It goes beyond downloading a budgeting app. If you do not differentiate your wants from your needs, you will keep overspending even after budgeting. The best practice will be to discipline yourself no matter your income, so that even when your income increases you do not automatically increase how much you spend on things.

[Majestic-milf]

 TBH, it's hard to make a budget these days. Before the economy became this porous, one could manage their salary till their next payment and could still save but it's a tough task to achieve now because it's not just food demanding your salary, but mainly transportation. It's unfortunate that some people will spend half of their salary on transportation and leave barely nothing to save once most of them have gone to settle one or two bills .

[Die_empty]

TBH, it's hard to make a budget these days. Before the economy became this porous, one could manage their salary till their next payment and could still save but it's a tough task to achieve now because it's not just food demanding your salary, but mainly transportation. It's unfortunate that some people will spend half of their salary on transportation and leave barely nothing to save once most of them have gone to settle one or two bills .

Extremely hard.

The price of essential commodities keeps on increasing, so you need to readjust your budget. I read a quote that said survival is a great achievement these days, and I believe it. People don't talk about saving or investing because survival is not expensive.

I and my family try as much as we can to cut costs. Budgeting would be implementable in such an unstable economy only when you focus on important needs and forgo other things you can do without. Due to the increase in fuel prices, transportation is eating deep in my income. We had to move the children to closer schools so they can walk to and from. The car is now used only for essential movements. 

[Powerjumboo]

A few years ago, I noticed my money was going out incoherently. So, from that moment on, I decided to keep track of how much I was spending and on what. I downloaded a budgeting app.
I divided it into categories: public transportation, health, groceries, household items, taxis, cat, other expenses, entertainment, rent, and clothing.
And I started keeping track of it month after month. It seemed simple. But listen up. I calculated my average monthly expenses and decided that this would allow me to forecast my expenses and understand my remaining funds. But when my work and investing started to go south, I was horrified because I realized I wouldn't have enough money next month. I was very worried, because I'd been able to see how much I was spending for years (I tried to be frugal). Now I've lived through a month spending 20 percent less than usual, without restricting myself from basic needs.
Why?

It turns out that our income dictates our expenses.  I realized that because I was earning well each month, I was indulging in more without really noticing it.
So, when you're budgeting, always look at both sides: how much you spend and how much you earn. The latter figure has a much greater impact than most people realize.

If we can use our money properly, then we will get a proper account of our money, like how much money we are earning and how much money we are spending. If we can keep this account properly, then we will never feel deprived. People feel deprived and live in hardship only because they do not use their income properly. If every person like you can keep a proper account of their income and expenditure, then I think their unnecessary expenses will reduce. Whenever a person reduces his unnecessary expenses, then he will be able to save for his future.

[bangjoe]

A few years ago, I noticed my money was going out incoherently. So, from that moment on, I decided to keep track of how much I was spending and on what. I downloaded a budgeting app.
I divided it into categories: public transportation, health, groceries, household items, taxis, cat, other expenses, entertainment, rent, and clothing.
And I started keeping track of it month after month. It seemed simple. But listen up. I calculated my average monthly expenses and decided that this would allow me to forecast my expenses and understand my remaining funds. But when my work and investing started to go south, I was horrified because I realized I wouldn't have enough money next month. I was very worried, because I'd been able to see how much I was spending for years (I tried to be frugal). Now I've lived through a month spending 20 percent less than usual, without restricting myself from basic needs.

Why?

It turns out that our income dictates our expenses.  I realized that because I was earning well each month, I was indulging in more without really noticing it.
So, when you're budgeting, always look at both sides: how much you spend and how much you earn. The latter figure has a much greater impact than most people realize.

100 percent this is true, without knowing our spending, we will only follow the feeling that we feel, live without rules and restrictions because we feel that income is still stable and tends to rise but so with spending because we feel that we have a growing income, and that is a bad thing actually.
I do the same thing as you and Where are my expenses that prevent me from accumulating more money to be able to use it to be more productive, that's why records of expenses and income are very important in living this life.

Honestly humans will never remember exactly how much spending in a month without having a record, because many expenses occur due to spontaneity or sheer emotionallitas.

[Bitcoin Smith]

I thought we are going to talk about the individual budgeting nuances but this is just another, don't spend money and start investing and you can do that if you keep track of your expense.

If you are saying this then you never started budgeting or doing only for month, budgeting doesn't always includes the monthly expenses, there are many other expenses involved beyond our monthly expenses which we often fail to take into consideration. I mean we have yearly expenses which comes one time per annum like paying the property tax, individual taxes, pay for your insurance, vehicle maintenance costs and the list just goes on.

[Lida93]

That's one of the characters of humans I guess, the more your purchasing power, the more you might likely spend especially on stuffs you really don't need.
Rather than use the budgeting app to keep track of how you spend, I would have rather prefer that you stop spending on frivolous things that you can actually do without, stuffs like the entertainment which includes data purchase, cable subscriptions, going out on dates/clubbing which isn't bad actually but consumes lots of finances at the long run should slowdown, if you carry out a holistic check of how your income is being spent you would notice that about 59% of money spent go into unnecessary stuffs and that what needs to be checked.

[BTC FutureKing]

it's hard to make a budget these days. Before the economy became this porous, one could manage their salary till their next payment and could still save but it's a tough task to achieve now because it's not just food demanding your salary, but mainly transportation. It's unfortunate that some people will spend half of their salary on transportation and leave barely nothing to save once most of them have gone to settle one or two bills .

Along with me others will also agree with you because everyone is facing these problems and everyone is worried about inflation.In my opinion the person who is saving after fulfilling everything in this era is facing the situation in a very strong way. Otherwise it is very difficult to survive in this era and there is no effect of reducing inflation.But investment is a means to fight inflation.But along with all this transportation is also a big problem because the cost of going to work school college etc.has increased a lot and it has become very difficult to meet these expenses in a monthly amount.In all this the person who is saving is the one who is fighting inflation.

[Spaceman1000$]

A few years ago, I noticed my money was going out incoherently. So, from that moment on, I decided to keep track of how much I was spending and on what. I downloaded a budgeting app.
I divided it into categories: public transportation, health, groceries, household items, taxis, cat, other expenses, entertainment, rent, and clothing.
And I started keeping track of it month after month. It seemed simple. But listen up. I calculated my average monthly expenses and decided that this would allow me to forecast my expenses and understand my remaining funds. But when my work and investing started to go south, I was horrified because I realized I wouldn't have enough money next month. I was very worried, because I'd been able to see how much I was spending for years (I tried to be frugal). Now I've lived through a month spending 20 percent less than usual, without restricting myself from basic needs.

Why?

It turns out that our income dictates our expenses.  I realized that because I was earning well each month, I was indulging in more without really noticing it.
So, when you're budgeting, always look at both sides: how much you spend and how much you earn. The latter figure has a much greater impact than most people realize.

It is good to be strategic with your spending especially if you realize the fact that you are earning more in the community where you find yourself, because most people think because they ean more, then they would have to spend more, that thinking will easily erode money from your hands. In a bid for you to be very stable in your spending in terms of budgeting, the economy where you stay needs to be very stable, this is so that inflation cannot easily affect your plans, because hence your planning to spend 20% of your income on basics and there is slight inflation on goods and services, technically it will rearrange your entire plan and you might see yourself spending 30% or even 40% of your income on basics.

[TheUltraElite]

Indeed income will decide what you spend.

So what I found easier is to track every month and eventually reach a decision to exclude some recurring payment over time after having decided whether you actually need it or not.

Budgeting might be easy on paper but in reality the difficulty lies in accepting that you can survive even in the lower spending bracket. But once you do this for a few months it becomes easier to accept and continue.