My coworker swore by the 50/30/20 rule and I finally tried it

Jenny from accounting kept pushing the 50/30/20 budget on me for like 6 months. I figured it was too simple to actually work since I had all these spreadsheets with 15 categories. Finally gave it a shot back in March and I'm actually saving $150 more per month now. The big change was realizing my "needs" category was way too broad before. Has anyone else had a simple system beat their complicated one?

4 comments

4 Comments

butler.finley2d ago

Yeah the "needs" part is where I messed up too honestly. I had stuff like Netflix and eating out mixed in there and wondered why I never had anything left. Once I got real about what a need actually was it clicked for me too.

gracewebb2d ago

Yeah but what about the stuff you don't pay for that still costs you?

wesley_martin2d ago

Hold up @butler.finley you had Netflix listed as a need? I thought I was bad but that's wild. Getting real about needs is the whole ballgame though, once you stop kidding yourself the numbers start making sense.

eric7232d ago

Cut the guy some slack @wesley_martin. Netflix isn't gonna break your bank, it's like what, fifteen bucks a month. People act like one streaming subscription is the reason they can't save money when most folks burn way more on random stuff they don't even track. I get that being honest about needs helps some people, but this whole "get real" thing feels overblown. You can budget for a little fun and still be serious about your money. The real problem is usually bigger stuff like car payments or eating out five times a week, not a single streaming bill. It's just not that deep.