What To Do When Budgeting Isn’t For You
I am a huge fan of budgeting and creating plans of financially what I’d like the month ahead to look like. Although we all know that the best-laid plans don’t always plan out like you would hope. But I try my best to keep inside my budgets and prepare what I think I’ll spend. But I know full well that budgets aren’t for everyone. Some people don’t like to feel restricted on what they can spend their money on. Some people just don’t want to follow a plan. Or can’t be bothered to set one up. But that’s absolutely fine as we’re all different.
If you do like planning then check out my post about how to create your own personal budget. But if budgeting isn’t for you then read on.
When budgeting isn’t for you: Work out your set expenses
Whether you like planning or not you should always know your set monthly expenses. These will include anything like rent/ mortgage, bills, mobile contract, gym membership etc. The set costs which come out every single month regardless. Add up everything that comes out in the month from one payday to the next and note down the figure.
Once you know this figure you know how much you need to set aside each month to cover these expenses. You don’t want anything to come out as a surprise. Or for one day you to think you’ve got loads of money to spend, but then all your bills come out the next day.
Create a new account for your disposable money
Seeing as most of your direct debits and standing orders are going to be set up from your main account you won’t want to go through the ball-ache of changing them. So set up a new account for all of your monthly spendings. I’d suggest Monzo as the money will come out straight away and not sit pending for days. And you can see a breakdown of what you’ve spent your money on should you want to find out.
As you know every month what money you need in your set expenses account you can then transfer everything else into your Monzo. This is then your pot for spending over the month. It’s what you can use on anything else like food, going out, entertainment, fuel and anything else which doesn’t have a set cost.
As someone who doesn’t like budgeting or planning at least you know your set expenses are good and safe and the rest is for you.
If you were budgeting….
If you were budgeting you’d usually know how much over a month you’d want to spend on your weekly food shop, or fuel, or going out on a night out. And if you did know this or set a budget for it you could create a pot in Monzo and separate out your money.
But if you’re not budgeting then this is where it ends. You have your disposable money for the month and it’s up to you to spend it as you like. I used to work like this but I’d end up living like a queen for the first 2 weeks then scraping around near the end. And for me, this didn’t work. But if you can just spend as and when and it works for you then great.
Pin It
18 responses to “What To Do When Budgeting Isn’t For You”
Leave a Reply
All About Me
Rhian Westbury
Travels and Destinations
Nothing currently planned
Luckily we do budget within our family. The hardest part is sticking to it, at lest for my husband it is. lol.
Angela.
This is really helpful. I do struggle with budgeting sometimes but I want to get it cracked in 2020!
I love this approach to budgeting! I’ve tried so hard with a YNAB subscription & opening separate spendings/savings accounts but for me the best way is a handwritten list. So simple.
What works for everyone is going to be different and there’s nothing wrong in that. I love handwritten lists but I find having them digitally that I can access on my work laptop and my mobile works better for my lifestyle x
This is such a helpful guide, I need to think about changing our budget a bit for next year and work on saving more I think.
I don’t budget at all but somehow I manage to stay within my means each month.
I need to get better at budgeting. I just buy so many unnecessary things and I bet if it added up, the total would really shock me.
As I use monzo for all of my non bill spending it’s shocking when I look every week at how much I can spend on food and general shopping. It’s enough to shock me into stopping x
Honestly I don’t really budget which I know is horrible. I know its a great idea but I never manage to get organised about it but this is such an encouraging post honestly. Its nice to know budgeting is not the only option!
Not everyone can have the mindset to budget every last penny of their money, and that isn’t an issue. As long as you’re happy with what you’re doing x
Some really great ideas and advice. Weāve made a seperate account for the bills so we know what we have to spend
First, I loved this post. It’s so insightful and it offers great advice for those who want to to stick to a budget but have difficulty. I started out with separate accounts for each individual bill until I got the hang of staying on budget.
I think when you’re not used to thinking about your expenses it can be tough! x
We do budget but I could do much better. I spend too much money on stuff I could really cut back on.
When I first moved out of my parents house I have a budget spreadsheet which I kept going for a few years. But I stopped when I got into housing debt and haven’t started one up again. I like this alternative method – you’re right that it’s simple to see what are compulsory expenses are and I like the idea of a separate account for my food and ‘fun shopping.
Kim x chimmyville.co.uk
Exactly if you separate them out it makes it even easier to see how much money you’ll be left with x
Useful post. Personally I prefer to use a single bank account for all my income and expenditure as that keeps things nice and simple. But I do have friends who have a separate ‘direct debit account’ for their regular monthly outgoings. I can see the logic behind this and am sure it works well for some people and helps them with their budgeting.
I think that’s the main thing, finding out what works for you and going with that x