My zero-based budget felt like a punishment until Tuesday

I spent 2 years in Denver doing the 50/30/20 thing and just threw whatever was left at debt, felt fine about it. Then my friend showed me her zero-based spreadsheet where every single dollar had a job, even a $15 'fun money' category for coffee. Watching her assign my rent and groceries down to the cent made me see my old method was just guessing with extra steps. Anyone else flip flop on budgeting styles after seeing one that clicks?}

1 comments

Log in to join the discussion

Log In

1 Comment

the_troy5d ago

Weird thing nobody talks about: zero-based budgets only work if your income is the same every month. When I was doing gig stuff and side work, some months were $2,400 and some were $3,100, so assigning every dollar was a nightmare because I'd have to redo the whole sheet every paycheck. The 50/30/20 thing was way easier to adjust on the fly. Now that my checks are steady, zero-based makes sense. So maybe the real issue isn't which method is better, it's which one fits your cash flow. Your friend with the neat spreadsheet probably has a salary, not a guess-every-Friday situation lol.

5