milessmith•2d agoProlific Poster

PSA: The 50/30/20 budget rule is a trap for a lot of people.

I keep seeing folks in here swear by it, but that 30% for 'wants' is way too high if you have any real debt. I followed it for a year and just kept treading water on my credit card balance. Switched to a zero-based budget where every dollar has a job, and I paid off $8,000 in 10 months. How do you all handle the 'fun money' part without derailing your goals?

3 comments

3 Comments

logan2361d ago

That "zero-based budget where every dollar has a job" was the only thing that worked for me too. I had to get real and cut my fun money down to a stupidly small cash allowance, like $40 every two weeks. It felt silly at first, but when that cash was gone, I was done spending.

sam_thomas1d ago

My fun money budget is so tight it squeaks. I tried the cash envelope thing and my wallet just laughed at me. Turns out my willpower works best when it's physically impossible to spend more.

jade_johnson1d ago

Used to think cash envelopes were dumb. Like, just use self control, right? Then I saw my own bank account after a bad month. Now I do the same thing. That twenty bucks in my fun envelope is all I get. When it's gone, it's gone.