I’ve been utilizing “pay yourself first” for over a decade and it works for me. I preset my saving and investing goals which are set to auto deduct from my accounts, I have recurring bills on auto pay, then everything else remaining is fair game to spend guilt free. Could I invest more if I spent less on luxuries? Yes, but then I should have factored that in at step one then redone the exercise again for the following month with less obligated money remaining.

That being said, I do see the value in a formal budgeting solution since at the moment I only track my savings/investments and have a large blindspot to my expenses.

I believe I’m doing the zero-based budget method. It is a chore, and certainly not for everyone, but I like to keep track of every single expense.

I use YNAB which I guess is technically zero based budgeting but we refer to the categories as envelopes. In my mind I’m doing the same thing as when I had cash in envelopes I just don’t have to deal with cash. I group my categories by the 50/30/20.

So I guess 4 with a bit of 1 and 3?

Not sure where my method belongs…

I usually set aside the money for bills, set aside budget for groceries and leave some for personal things and entertainment. Everything else goes to the savings account.

I have some kind of hybrid between no budget and pay yourself first.

I have timed the biggest bills to land just after my monthly payday, I also do my savings at that time. Whatever is left on my account is free to use. I do have a buffer account, in case the month gets too tight.

Zero based budget. Envelope method using the Goodbudget app (not really the way it’s meant to) so that my partner and I can see where we are at any given time firming the month for our “cash envelopes”.

We use “cash envelopes” for: Groceries Restaurant Entertainment Cosmetics & Toiletries Pets Gas Dry Cleaning Haircuts Blow Money

Zero based budgeting for me, though I only discovered the method I came up with myself already had an established name.

To me it’s simply the most straightforward approach.

I’ve never had a budget. I’ve worked and studied hard and lived far, far below my means which allowed me to get a bit ahead 20 years ago when it was more possible and a choice. I see people doing some of the things now I did and it’s not as effective because of corporate price gouging.

I like saving money and loathe accumulating stuff I know is only a fleeting want. I enjoy buying quality things if they are lasting and fit into what I want my life to be. I enjoy things where I don’t have to repeatedly spend money to enjoy them. Some sports work for this, some don’t. Outdoor activities can be very cheap or free if you aren’t convinced you need something with a motor to make it fun. Libraries are a blessing.

Because of the above, I’ve never had a budget. At times I’ve worried that I don’t when so many people talk about them so much but I’ve slowly come to trust myself to not need a budget with the realization a budget just helps others achieve what I’m lucky enough to have, organization and self control.

I think 2 or 5 is closest. Basically, we pull our savings target on payday, and we track spending for each category, but we don’t check up on spending until the end of the month, and sometimes not every month.

We discuss deviations every few months and make adjustments as needed. For example, our restaurant spending was steadily rising, so we set a goal to cook more and try to prepare new foods, and that cut the desire to eat out.

I think this works because my wife and I are both quite disciplined and frugal. We do make more than the average household, but we spend a similar amount I think ($60-65k for a family with three kids; median household income is >$75k for my area).

When I was a student, I did envelope budgeting because most of my expenses were fixed (housing, tuition, etc) and I didn’t have a lot extra. When I got married and my first real job, we lived the same way for a couple years until we had a nice cash cushion, then gradually expanded our spending as needed. For example, we got a bigger apartment when we wanted kids, got a house when we planned for a second kid, had a single car when I could bike to work and bought a second when I couldn’t. Each spending increase was intentional.

Do we have a non video explanation of what those methods are?

I simply don’t have a budgeting method. I just don’t spend money until I need to. That might sound incredibly simplistic, but it works for me. I have money taken out of my paycheck for 401k. I have automatic withdrawal for mortgage. And then everything else just gets paid electronically 1st week of the month. Is that a “method”? I wouldn’t call it such, but it works.

I know there are people out there who just can’t hold onto money. If they have $10 in their pocket, they’ll spend it. If they had $100, they’d spend that. It didn’t matter how much they made, they were always broke. I’ve never really understood that kind of thinking, quite honestly.