How do you budget for the month?

[Gabbbbriellxa]

Just asking for tips. 25 and have always been a shopper and impulsive spender !

I tried setting a weekly budget after bills then any left overs can pay off things like holiday etc

But I feel like its not hard but I've been so stuck on a weekly budget that if I need to buy something urgent like for example we need a new dining set as somehow clumsy DH has dropped at least 4 items of our current and broke them haha! But in my head im like well I've got tomorrow and the weekend with the kids so we need budget money for farm and outings and any snacks picked up etc

Whenni should just buy it and I will as im looking now as to why do I delay until the next week when my new budget starts when I need stuff!

Looking for a suitable alternative method please!

(Ps dh did offer to buy a new one as he smashed the old one but he'd pick a sh*te quality one and I've seen a lovely set that I'd like! 😂 the dinner set was an example of my budget )

I budget monthly ( as I get paid monthly) I take bills and grocery shopping out, allocate a set amount per week for 'fun' money and then allocate the rest to savings/clothing/emergency fund/holiday fund. I might have £50 per week fun money but then if I spend £60 one week then there is just less for the next week.

To be honest, a new dinner set wouldn't be coming out of my weekly/monthly budget anyway, it would be coming out of my savings/emergency fund.

I have a spreadsheet to keep track of everything. I break down into stuff like groceries (and have 4x weekly budget) and bills.

I also have sinking funds for House Stuff, Car Stuff, Fun Stuff, Gifting and Clothing - so I add money every month to each pot. If I spend it all, no problem. If not it rolls over and makes the next months pot bigger. If the money isn’t in the pot, we can’t go/buy whatever. These days I have a bit more flexibility, but when DS was younger and my salary lower, it really was a test of discipline to be able to say no! I love the pots as it means if you have a unexpected cost, it just comes out of a pot instead of wrecking your budget for the week and making you broke! When I decide how much to go in each pot, I look at an annual figure of what I spent the last year/may need to spend, and break it down into 12 payments, so the money builds up (for example, I need more fun money in the summer holidays than during January).