Thinking about money and spending over an entire month is difficult. I don’t care how much money you make. One way to make sure you don’t overspend is to give yourself a weekly allowance. If you put your bills on autopay and set up a recurring transfer to an allowance account, you can’t help but stick to a budget. I have mine set up to deposit money into a checking account just for my spending every Friday. I’m flush for the weekend and I know another deposit will come the following Friday. This method will help curb impulse spending because if you find something you want on a Wednesday and you don’t have enough money in your account, just wait till Friday when you get a new deposit. It will also help alleviate fights between spouses since you have different priorities for what you spend money on. Anything you don’t spend stays in the account, so it’s possible to save for larger purchases too.
Next time: Part 3 – Think about your purpose