I try to not get too granular with tracking stuff, especially how much goes into savings and what not. Just save as much as you can and let time do its thing. Our savings are automatically squirreled away with each check and I usually check my preferred budget app at the end of the month just to see where the totals end up.
Really though, I just see how much we have in checking at the end of the month and move any excess into the savings account. If we overspent I'll see it there.
I think that budgeting or tracking has its time and place (i.e. getting out of debt, trying to get a visual picture of where spending is going, etc).
But, once this has been established, I have found that the 80/20 rule applies in that what "moves the needle" most are the Big 3 expenses of housing, transportation, and food.
If one focuses the most time on these 3 in terms of getting them into a manageable spot (no/low car payments, buying less house than qualified for, buying generic food, etc) then it becomes difficult to overspend.
I try to not get too granular with tracking stuff, especially how much goes into savings and what not. Just save as much as you can and let time do its thing. Our savings are automatically squirreled away with each check and I usually check my preferred budget app at the end of the month just to see where the totals end up.
Really though, I just see how much we have in checking at the end of the month and move any excess into the savings account. If we overspent I'll see it there.
Thank you for sharing your method, Tanner. Sounds like we’re similar in that we don’t like to stress about every dollar daily.
I think that budgeting or tracking has its time and place (i.e. getting out of debt, trying to get a visual picture of where spending is going, etc).
But, once this has been established, I have found that the 80/20 rule applies in that what "moves the needle" most are the Big 3 expenses of housing, transportation, and food.
If one focuses the most time on these 3 in terms of getting them into a manageable spot (no/low car payments, buying less house than qualified for, buying generic food, etc) then it becomes difficult to overspend.