I finally admit my friend was right about the 50/30/20 rule

My friend Jen told me two years ago to just use the 50/30/20 budget method for my paycheck. I argued it was too simple and wouldn't work for my complicated expenses. I spent 18 months building spreadsheets and tracking every coffee purchase down to the penny. Last month I finally tried her way and my savings actually went up $200 in 4 weeks. All those detailed categories were just making me feel bad and not change anything. Has anyone else found that a simpler plan worked better than the fancy spreadsheets?

3 comments

3 Comments

evahenderson15d ago

Fair enough, but that simple rule would never work for my irregular income.

susan_adams15d ago

I mean, I totally get what @evahenderson is saying about irregular income making it harder. That's honestly the same reason I avoided the 50/30/20 rule for so long too, thinking my situation was too special. But then I read what @finleyl39 said about using the lowest month as a baseline, and that kind of clicked for me. It's like, you don't have to track every single penny, you just need a floor you can work from and any extra is a bonus. It takes some of the pressure off, for sure.

finleyl3915d ago

Irregular income makes it harder but you can still make it work. I got paid weekly when I was freelancing so I just set up my 50/30/20 based on my lowest month in the last year. Anything extra I earned went straight to savings as a bonus. That way I never had to guess if I could afford rent or groceries. The key is to pick a baseline number you can count on and treat the rest like a windfall. It's not perfect but it beats stressing over every dollar.