Do you have a budget if you aren’t broke?

[WhenWillWanksWildly]

I’ve been listening to snippets of Dave Ramsey and co hence the Americanism of broke.

DH and I have always had a budget and still do now we’re comfortable because we are still reliant on a monthly income from work. When I mentioned my food budget and to my boss she was aghast that I totted up my list and tried to keep in budget. Ditto with giving ourselves pocket money for whatever we want to spend it on guilt free.

If you did have a budget when you were broke but no longer follow a budget what income level were you at? I was wondering if there was a magic number when people gave up budgeting I guess.

We've never really had an explicit budget. We've always spent well within our income without having to work at it. Our income is over 150k gross now, but this was true when we earned less. We were never really low income though (since being students).

The only time I was very conscious of cash was when I was a student, which was a long period as I did two post-graduate degrees. As my income went up, I adjusted my spending habits more slowly, so there was never a problem. I think the other thing that helps is that my husband (and me to a lesser extent) have some self-employment income which goes straight into savings and we mostly spend as if we only have our salaries, then are "surprised" by the extra money saved for large house projects etc.

Have a budget and always will - dh is a retired finance director. It’s a way of life!

No not really. We don’t have a budget for groceries, fuel, kids clothes etc but we’re not particularly extravagant anyway so don’t need to make an effort to keep a lid on it. We each have a set amount of spending money for ourselves each month that we keep in our accounts, with the rest going into the joint account so I suppose that’s my budget for my own discretionary spending.

No, not really, I send various amounts to savings accounts but tend to just spend what I want, the only debt I have is car finance though so have quite a bit of disposable income. I'm an above average earner but definitely not a high earner

Yes definitely, maybe not a strict ‘x for food y for travel’ but I know how much a cheap month costs us and how much an expensive month costs and aim to have more cheaper ones and more saving!

We don’t really have a budget. However, we siphon off large portions of our income before it hits our bank account and just pretend it doesn’t exist. There are pension deposits, savings for dc’s education, and general savings. Those get paid first before anything else and then we work with what we have and still try to move some excess to savings periodically.

have followed Dave Ramsay for years now and definitely still have a budget. I keep a spreadsheet but it’s so ingrained that I can do it in my head.

100%!

We are 'comfortable' and I budget for everything. I'm a DR nerd!

Yes we do in that money is moved into different accounts at the beginning of the month.
One for household bills and groceries, one for ds spending, then we have various savings pots for joint savings, ds long term savings, sinking fund for home and car repairs and maintenance, holidays pot and then DH and I get fun money each to do with as we wish, which is pretty generous. I think people who don't often fall into that category of earning well, but not saving much/not knowing where their money goes

I try hard to budget I try to keep food bill around £50-£60 per week for the 4 of us it used to be £30-£40 but cost of living is not achievable. We're not extravagant people anyway

Yep, like others I would always have a budget regardless of income. I couldn't imagine not having one and not really knowing where all your money was and what it was doing. It's as much for financial planning as it is for oversight.

Yes. We use Ynab. All money is allocated to various pots. We often go over budget in certain categories, but just reallocate. Having a budget helps to spend the fun money as the pots show the bills are taken care of.

No not really. Just keep an eye on account. Household income about 7k a month

No. We each get a certain amount into our Monzo every week for spending but house stuff, groceries, kids stuff etc out of normal account and no budget. Will mention big purchases though out of courtesy.

Maybe we’re not big spenders but we know where all our money goes despite not having a budget. Can simply open banking app and see right before you where it’s all gone/going :)

Not a strict budget of x amount for food, y amount for clothes. But we do have a spreadsheet to keep track of how much overall we are saving and spending.

One pot for bills and recurring monthly stuff
One pot for holiday and fun money
One pot for emergency fund.

I know exactly how much goes in each every month - in my head, I've been doing this for so long now!

I'm retired now and financially comfortable which means I don't really have to save for anything anymore apart from travel and fun. I have investments maturing year by year, and I decide whether to spend or reinvest. Usually spend it, life is far too short for pricking around and being frugal at my stage in life (mid60s). Hard work since 16 has paid off.

Being organised with money is something that is habit for me. But I spend it too.

No, but food shop tends to roughly fall around the same amount each week naturally and obviously we know how much we can afford for holidays etc but no budget

I’ve always had a budget. It’s not ultra fixed like I can’t pick up whatever I fancy from the supermarket but I find it useful to have a rough idea in mind for each category. I’ve never been broke but I’ve never had unlimited money either so having a budget is how I know how much discretionary spending I can afford. For example we are going on an expensive holiday so I worked out what a realistic budget for it would be and how much I’d need to put away per month in a specific pot. I tell myself I can have almost anything I want but not all in the same month - and the budget is key to working out when I can get what!

Absolutely we do. I have a professional role and DH is in a C-Suite role.

Does Amazon need to have a budget just as much as the local mom & pop corner shop? Yes. Bigger budget required, but a budget nonetheless. You won’t see Amazon throwing money this way and that, unaccounted for, “Because we’re one of the biggest companies worldwide and we don’t need to worry about that anymore.” All businesses, regardless of size, have a budget, so why not all households, regardless of income?

I have a vague budget. I follow the 50/30/20 rule (essentials/fun money/savings) so I know how much I have to play with. Food shopping for example, I know roughly how much I should be spending each week, if I go over one week, I know I'll be a bit more restrained the following.
I wouldn't want to be super strict and feel like I'm missing out on something because I've spent over my budget on petrol for example.

Exactly the same as this.

No explicit budget now but we aren't silly, I'm quite aware of what is affordable, no allocated fun money either, we know our parameters

Having a budget is why we aren't broke. I think I would be ok without one, but DH spends like it's going out of fashion if he isn't given a set limit 😅.

No particular budget. Credit card is paid in full each month and we certainly live within our means. I'd likely save more if I did have a strict budget, but don't feel we are frivolous or extravagant. We don't have kids, so maybe that is why I've never have a strict budget?