I have my wife handle the budget and finances. She is very responsible. I am not.

The system works very well.

I believe the system I use is called reckless abandon.

My only budgeting is to earn much more than I spent so I don’t have to think too much about it. That means that I live quite frugal and other than food don’t really buy much on a regular basis.

I have a single spreadsheet with fairly simple formulas for calculating monthly expenses based on average recurring bills vs. (after tax) salary income.

I can see generally what my “discretionary” balance should be and that gets spent on food, stuff, etc.

Things that are recurring: Mortgage, Utilities (take annual average if you can), services, savings, etc.

Use savings like any other bill - a certain amount must be paid/deposited every month. Use automatic balance transfers from checking->savings on payday to facilitate.

I don’t try to get too fancy with it and heavily leverage automatic bill pay for making sure I can’t forget anything.

Check all your accounts regularly. For me that’s a weekend task to do with my morning coffee. Check account balances, make sure credit accounts are addressed as needed, review investments if applicable, but don’t freak out about them.

I’m partial to treating investments as long term gambles that are NOT something I’m relying on for retirement. It’s just something else to slowly build up over the long run that might be something that can help later or pass on.

There are apps that can automatically track in- and outgoing payments for your account, as well as classify them to give you an overview. I use Finanzguru, though I suspect that’s only available in Germany.

If you’re struggling with money, here’s my approach: If it isn’t absolutely necessary to have, sleep on it at least once before buying it, no matter how cheap it is. Works quite well, its weird how much your perspective can often change within a day.

I just go into notes app or pen and paper of choice nothing too fancy

Also take this with a grain of salt as while I’m still living with my parents and don’t really pay

In one section I have subscriptions that cannot exceed like $35 a month and that’s more a list that rarely gets updated

Then as for month to month expenses I divide into money to spend on games and toys/treats for my dogs and taking out the gf and gas and an other category and I allocate money towards those categories

I do it so I don’t over spend in one section like blow all my money on my dogs then have no money to spend for my girlfriend or something

Each month when I “refresh” my monthly budget any unspent money (and minus some to put into savings) rolls over to next months budget

It works wonders and I can move money for spending around easy since it’s all visual

“Pay yourself first”. My bank has a feature that allows me to setup automated money transfers to and from different accounts based on rules I setup. The most important one is when any deposit is received from my employer, 20% of the amount is automatically transferred from my chequing account to my retirement account. My paycheque is deposited overnight and the money is already “gone” by the time I wake up in the morning. Treat it like another tax on your income that you have no way to avoid paying. Then live off what’s left.

YNAB = you need a budget

YNAB is a web app and mobile app. It’s beauty is that it helps you look FORWARD, instead of tracking your PAST spending.

It’s not much use to see that you spent too much last month, again. Instead, YNAB helps you know what your average expenses are and lets you set aside meaningful amounts for each kind of expense = that’s what we call a BUDGET.

Yes, it has a cost. Yes, it’s ironic to spend money on a tool to save money. But here’s the thing: it really works! For me, it’s easily worth the cost.

www.ynab.com

I avoid automatic payments like the plague. I never give insurance companies, utilities, credit companies, etc. permission to withdraw from my account. All it takes is one underpaid office drone to make a mistake, and you’re overcharged a thousand dollars. You can (probably) get the money back, but not without a time consuming hassle.

Ever notice that billing mistakes on paper bills are virtually never in your favor? In my experience, I’ve always been overcharged, and never undercharged. I don’t expect automatic payments to be any different.

I let them mail me paper bills, which I then pay through my bank’s website. When the payment is made, I write the confirmation number on the bill itself. Yes, it’s more cumbersome, but that’s a price I’m willing to pay. There’s a verifiable paper trail, and I’m completely in control. Since it’s my money, I deserve to be.