Personal Budgeting
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Personal Budgeting

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Buckets

This is a description of the "buckets" where you divide your money. Ideally, you'll have a checking or savings account for each of these buckets.
Buckets
0
Name
Description
Examples
Account Type
1
Income
Income comes into this account.
Every month, everything in this account is transferred to the other accounts, split according to the
Monthly Plan
⁠
.
wages
business income
bonuses/tips
Checking
2
Necessary expenses
This is for things needed for *survival*, not maximum health/happiness/convenience/comfort. If you can live without it, it’s part of
@Optional/fun expenses
⁠
.

This includes an “Emergency Fund” (configurable on the
Questions for you
⁠
page) to deal with unexpected loss of income, big unexpected expenses like a medical bill, etc. If you want, you can split the Emergency Fund into its own savings account. Once the Emergency Fund gets big enough, you can move the money to
@Long-term savings/investments
⁠
.
rent & utilities
basic groceries
cell phone
needed clothing
needed medical expenses
taxes
Checking
3
Optional/fun expenses
This is for things you want (even if you want them a lot) but don’t need to survive.
Note: For things that are more expensive versions of basic needs, like expensive groceries, the “optional” expense is the difference in price between the most basic version and what you chose.
expensive groceries
eating out
desired clothing
activities
elective medical expenses
Checking
4
Long-term savings/investments
This is for three things:
If your Emergency Fund is overwhelmed, you can replenish it from here.
You can make investments (stocks, buying a house, etc.) that help you build long-term wealth and get income from your savings.
Big expenses (travel/vacations, education, new car, laptop)
investments
buying a house
college/education
buying a car
new laptop
travel/vacations
Checking, Savings, or Brokerage
There are no rows in this table
⁠

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