A budget is a plan for your money — what comes in, what goes out, what's left. The maths is just addition and subtraction; the discipline is the hard part.
Edit the data — the chart follows
Rent: 32%Food: 16%Transport: 12%Bills: 10%Savings: 20%Fun: 10%
Building a budget
- Add up all income (use net, take-home pay).
- List fixed costs — rent, bills, loan payments.
- List variable costs — groceries, transport, fun.
- Whatever's left → savings and debt. Drag the slices above so they total 100%.
Your turn
You take home $2,400 a month. Under the 50/30/20 rule, how much goes to savings?
Watch out
Forgetting irregular costs — car insurance, holidays, gifts — wrecks budgets. Divide each annual cost by 12 and set that aside every month.
Common framework: 50/30/20
- 50% Needs — rent, food, transport, utilities
- 30% Wants — eating out, hobbies, entertainment
- 20% Savings — emergency fund, investing, paying down debt