I think budgeting and practical finances should be taught at multiple stages throughout a student’s life. I thought I knew the general idea but didn’t appreciate how much neglecting it would set me back.
What is your process for budgeting? As a starting point this article lists a few methods.
I use zero based budgeting where every dollar is assigned a purpose. I don’t end up sticking exactly to the plan, but I do keep a spreadsheet which lists my current balances and all expected expenses, so I can see my future balance and avoid going in the red. A couple times a month I cross off expenses which have been paid and update the balance. This is especially helpful to me because a big portion of my income is irregular month to month.
None really. I think I’ve always been in a privileged enough position that I never really needed to worry. I’m not a big impulse buyer and tend to regulate myself on this. If I buy something that I don’t really use as much as I thought I would, it annoys me so much that I become much more conservative with spending in the following weeks/months. It kinda self-regulates.
I don’t have a car, and instead bike everywhere or use public transport which saves me a lot of money. This is again a privilege, because I managed to land an affordable place to live that’s close to work.
My only way of keeping track of all this is the division between my payment and savings accounts. If my payment account goes above a certain value, I move money to my savings account. As long as this keeps happening regularly, like it has for years, I have nothing to worry about. Obviously I do check the details of my spending every now and then, but nothing organised.