Budgeting
Budgeting doesn't have to suck. It's just a way to make a plan so your money goes where you want it to go.Budgeting has a horrible reputation.
Usually, “I’m on a budget” is a phrase that implies you’re not spending any money, and definitely not on anything fun. However, that’s missing the whole point of a budget.
When used correctly, your budget should make it easier for you to spend money on the things you love, and remove all of the guilt involved in that spending. It’ll also make sure that at the same time, you’re putting money away for the goals that matter most to you, on a timeline that makes sense for your life.
That sounds much better than your typical view of being “on a budget,” right?
Best budgeting tools out there
Connect your accounts to Mint, build a budget based on spending categories, and get notifications when you go over budget in a specific category. An easy, automated option for beginners.
Keep yourself on budget by loading money onto a prepaid KOHO card that tracks your spending automatically. Earn an extra 1% cashback for 90 days with code HALFBANKED when you sign up.
Get more nuanced control of your money and lessons to help guide your budgeting approach with You Need a Budget, a paid option that connects with your accounts.
Build a budget in under a minute
The One Minute Budget is a (free!) spreadsheet that helps calculate how much you should spend on major budget categories—all you need to know is your income.
“You Should Care Less” Is Terrible Money Advice
There’s a specific kind of financial advice that drives me batty. It’s when people advise you to just stop spending money on something they consider frivolous—even if it’s something you love. It’s bad advice for a number of reasons, and the first one is that is just doesn’t work.
How to Budget for a New House (Without Giving Up Everything You Like)
Listen, planning to give up all the stuff you like, FOREVER, just to afford a house is a bad plan. You will cave eventually, and you will be miserable in the meantime. Here is how to balance your budget for both—your house and the stuff you love.
6 Key Things You Need to Know About CMHC And Closing Costs
If you’re buying a home (in Canada), you’ll need to be really careful about planning for CMHC and other closing costs. I mean, you’ll have closing costs anywhere, sure, but these ones are what you need to watch out for here!
How To Get Your Financial Life Together (+ Giveaway!)
If you’re looking for a book designed to help you get your financial life together, look no further! This is a review of Broke Millennial, by Erin Lowry, which shot to the top of my book-recommendation list when it came out.
The Secret to Finding Your Magic Money Number
What’s a “magic money number”? And how can you find out what it is for you? (It’s different for everyone, FYI.) This guest post from Alyssa at Mixed Up Money breaks it all down for you.
Two Big Problems With Budgeting Advice
Not all the budgeting advice out there is worth listening too, for two major reasons. Here’s how to work around them, and figure out what actually works for your life.
How To Build a Budget (Plus, Cookies!)
Wondering how you can build a budget that works for real life? Here’s what baking The Hardest Cookies Known To Man (in skill, not consistency) taught me, and how the heck that all applies to money.
Or, And, If: Three Magic Words for Your Budget
This is not some “The Secret” post about how if you just think magically, money will show up in your life. Nope, it’s much more focused on how to make choices and think of options you had never considered—especially not when every piece of standard wisdom says you can’t do this stuff.
I Went Over Budget This Month (And What To Do If You Did, Too)
There will be months – possibly many of them – where try as hard as you might, you go way the heck over budget. This is how I handle it, and how you can make sure it ends up being a productive thing for you and your money (and hey, it happens!)
The Real Truth About How I Save Half My Income
Yes, I started this blog to try to save half my income. Yes, I got there (eventually). But there’s more to the story than that, which is why I’m pulling back the curtain with some real-talk about how it happened.
In Praise of Weird Spending
Trust me, everyone has weird spending patterns—and it actually makes you better at money. Here’s how.
10 Things Millennials Need to Do With Their Money ASAP
While I’m not usually a fan of things you “have” to do…. this is a list of the ones I 100% stand behind. (And they’re not all that hard!)
Manage Your Money Like a Pro – Even If You’re “Not” One
Not sure where to begin when it comes to creating a plan to manage your money? Start here, with these four steps that are totally do-able for beginners and pros alike.
Yes, You Can Have Your Latte and Your Money Goals
You don’t have to give up your lattes (or those other things you like) to be “good at money”. You just have to be intentional about spending on the things that matter to you.
Exactly How Much I Spent (And Saved) on a 10-Day Trip to the Canadian Rockies
We spent ten days travelling in the Rockies, and this is everything we did (plus how much it costs!)
My Biggest Money Challenge? Not Knowing How To Start
Even when you know what the right thing to do IS, that doesn’t mean that you know how to do it.
In Defense of the Fun Budget
No matter what your goals are, or how tight money is, you have to allocate at least something to spend on things you like—no matter how little it is, it’ll save your budget. Seriously.
5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me (About Money) As A New Grad
These pieces of advice were hard lessons to learn when I was a new grad, and they’re the things I’d tell myself if I could go back to that time.
5 Crazy-Valuable Money Steps You Can Take in Less Than an Hour
You don’t have to commit tons of time to make a big impact on your money. Here are five quick wins you can score in under an hour.
That Time I Saved Half My Income (March Spending Recap)
I don’t do regular updates anymore, but when I did, this was a big one: I finally managed to save half my income. Here’s how I did it, and what I spent money on.