Who says you have to budget? Fogettaboudit.
I don't like the term spending budget either, because if you have an amout to spend, buy x amount of items left over, you will spend not save the rest of the s-p-e-n-d-i-n-g-b-u-d-g-e-t.
Don't even try to conform to a budget. Don't bring up that nasty word again.
Here is what you do. Trust me, I was kicking myself when I finally learned this simple trick.
Monthy Planning
Add up all your expenses for the month:
example:
Rent/Mortgage $1000
Car Payment 200
Car Insurance 100
Telephone 20
Mobile Phone 100
Utilities 40
Total $1460.
1460 / 4 = $365 per week.
Yep. That's it. All you need is 365 dollars a week to cover your basic expenses. If you want to take it a step further, get a seperate account that you only use for your monthly expenses and write checks or may online bill payments to your debtors.
It's just way too easy! Do you feel silly now?
You can also add in food and fuel cost.
Make a shopping list before you go. Average it out and multiply it by 4. Blammo, you have a grocery spending plan. Same thing with fuel.
What I also find is a good idea is to either pay bills weekly or every other week. You make all your payments on the 5th and the 15th or you pay your bills every Tuesday. That way you always know what you have to put aside by your 'pay day' of the week.
Weird how they call payday payday. Shouldn't it be called get-paid-day?
Just Say No To Budgets
