The problem with calendar months
Most people are paid on a fixed date: the 25th, the 28th, the last working day. A budget that resets on the 1st cuts your real month in two. You start each "month" with half your money already spent, and the numbers never feel right.
Four steps to a payday budget
- Start with what comes in. Your salary after deductions, plus anything else you can count on.
- Take out the fixed costs. Rent, phone and internet, utilities, loan payments, school fees. These don't change, so set them aside first.
- Pay yourself. Decide what you'll save this month, even if it's small. Treat it like a bill.
- Split the rest. What's left is for living: food, transport, shopping, going out. Divide it by the days until your next payday to get a daily amount.
An example
Say you earn 12,000 a month in your currency. Rent and bills are 5,500 and you save 1,500. That leaves 5,000 for 30 days: about 166 a day. Spend 100 today and tomorrow you have a little more. That daily number is the whole plan.
Let an app do the maths
Expensly on the App Store asks for your income, payday, bills and savings goal, then builds category budgets and the daily number for you. Everything resets on your payday.
