Reader,

Here’s the simplest way I think about budgeting:

Make a plan for the money you have today. Stick it in envelopes to reflect that plan (I use a digital envelope system). Spend from your envelopes.

That’s it. That's my approach.

I know that “budgeting” means a lot of things to a lot of people. Some focus on tracking every dollar you’ve ever spent. Others are all about forecasting what you might earn and spend down the line.

Those are all valid, just not the one I’m talking about here.

What I’m describing is grounded in the present moment: Plan what’s actually in front of you. Work with the money you have right now.

But this is also where it can get tricky, because to make a plan you trust, you still need a sense of two things:

how you’ve been spending before today, and what’s coming next.

That’s where people get stuck.

Because looking closely means facing things we’d sometimes rather not see:

-> Habits we didn’t know were there.
-> Patterns that don’t feel great.
-> Money quietly flowing to things we don’t even care about.

It's easier to just not look.

So here’s what I’ll say - seeing that stuff doesn’t mean you’re failing.
It means you’re paying attention.

And once you’re paying attention, your money flow stops happening TO you and comes under your control.
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Allegra

​Reach out when you're ready to look at your money.

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