The Smartest Money Go for Budget-Hate People

1. Pay yourself first

Paying yourself starts with a common personal finance strategy that involves allocating some of your paycheck to your savings in the same way you allocate money to your essentials, like gas and groceries. You can’t spend what you can’t see, and automatic transfers are a form of forced savings.

Set up automatic transfers to your savings and retirement accounts to prioritize your future goals. You can gradually increase how much you contribute to your savings and retirement accounts over time. Doing this automatically also frees up headspace to focus on how to spend your remaining pay.

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2. Zero-based ‘entertainment’ envelope

Zero-based budgeting involves giving every dollar you earn a job. Allocating a certain amount of this money to “fun” – such as dining out with friends, going to the movie theater or other hobbies – means that you will have a set amount of money and will prevent you from spending more than that set amount.

Set aside a portion of each paycheck for discretionary spending and recreational use. But if your happy envelope is empty, you can’t spend any extra money on options. You have to wait until the next payment.

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3. Core four check

Your money may be spread across multiple categories, and that can make it challenging to keep track of them all. While you can review monthly credit card statements and create detailed spreadsheets that track all your spending, focus on the “four important” categories to save time.

Housing, utilities, food and transportation are usually the four biggest expenses. That means that if you’re trying to cut costs, focusing your cost-cutting efforts on these four major categories can lead to significant savings.

For example, think about cooking at home instead of eating out or ordering from DoorDash, or using public transportation instead of calling an Uber when trying to save money. Always check your spending in these categories for any surprises, such as your spending ballooning from one month to the next.

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4. Have a service drop-off date

There is a good chance that you can sign up for monthly plans for various products and services, such as television broadcast platforms. You may also have some that were once useful but are now unused and quietly eating away at your savings. Some may charge from your bank balance while the less expensive tier of the same service may give you what you need.

Choose a specific day each time, such as the last day of each month or quarter, for the service down day. Review your spending and see which subscription plans you can reduce or eliminate.