my new budgeting style that I actually stuck with

oh hi there. a few posts ago, I raved about the "envelope system" and how I "hacked" it by labeling my wallet by category.
suprise, surprise, it doesn't work!

being the unorganised lazy-ass that I am, that method didn't really stick for more than a few months. reading back, I actually can't remember ever writing that post in the first place XD

but after all these years, I've finally managed to get my spending habits in control. I'm still NOT a millionaire. but I'm not in debt either, so that's a win (?) haha

2018 was a scary time for us (financially) cos my husband lost his job.. so that meant I would have to shoulder most of our expenses for the time being.. that really got us thinking about money, survival, and actually building up some savings.. we're still recovering from that shock, but I'm glad to say we survived (debt-free!).

want to know what worked?
I just tricked myself into thinking I'm poor! XD well, not really.. but you know what I mean.

here's how I did it:
1) add up all the "fixed" expenses you have per month.. for me it's the rent, bills, and money for my mom, plus roughly 1k per week in groceries (4k/month)
2) once I get my salary, I deduct the fixed expenses from that..
3) from what's left, I deduct a further 10-20% for my savings.
4) after the "fixed expenses" and "savings" have been deducted, you're now left with your "true budget"..  this "true budget" looks pretty sad, actually.. but trust me. that sad-looking amount makes all the difference.

last year I didn't really get any savings cos my laptop broke down and my "savings budget" went into paying for that.. but thanks to this new thing I did, I managed to pay for my laptop in 4 months. this year, hopefully I get to save up. pray for me. lol