I’m a mathematician. My math brain shuts off when the units are in currency.
I don’t think I even check my account enough. My coworkers look at me in horror when I tell them that I just sort of eyeball the bank account every now and then to see that the approximate amount was put in.
…and, honestly? Fuck their thinking anyway. I know they aren’t breaking out calculator, pen&paper, or even chatfuckpt to ensure the pennies are exactly matching. Knowing that I can spend $5 once a month on a game, or pay for a prescription, isn’t exactly hard. I just always keep way under what any budget would tell me anyway. I don’t need a budget to tell me how much to put away for retirement, that shit is going the way of the dodo here soon.
I have a math brain; I do not, however, have a brain that can make plans or follow them consistently
I do have a math brain, which is why I can get by on vibes.
I used to keep my checking account balance in my head and would only see the balance on ATM receipts. Only bounced 1 check in about 6 years in my teens/early 20’s. Needless to say, my wife was horrified and is the family banker.
There’s a psychological horror game I play. Occasional jumps are, but mostly just slow building dread.
It’s called You Need a Budget 4.
(None of that modern YNAB shit, this one’s old school and out of support. I’m not paying a subscription to manage my cash.)
Theres loads of ways to manage your spending without a budget, more effective for most people too.
I can’t imagine how people could be so precise & rigid with their own personal liquid finances. It’s all about vibes for me. Always has been.
Basically my financial situation is:
Me work. Me get paid. Banana purchase. Repeat.I too am an ape
The worst part is that I love math and numbers…just hate money and having to worry about it.
I’ve played enough video games to know that I need to take what I can when I can, and when I need to use it I most likely won’t until it’s necessary, and when all is said and done I should have enough to not need it all and there is something to give to the next person. My budget is basically an inventory of time I have already spent vs time that I want to save, so only things that are worth that conversion of time is what I will end up using my bag of coins on.
God no. I got in so much debt with ADHD and no budget. Finding YNAB saved my ass and allowed me to buy a house right before it became impossible to do so. Now I won’t pay YNABs insane prices but I still use the same methods.
But obviously I have ADHD so I’ve had to restart that budget many many times. I’ve forgotten about it multiple times over the last 13 years. But I’m finally consistent with it. I check it when I’m going to make a big purchase, I know my general what I need weekly, and I fully review it every pay day (or you know, 2 days later shhh).
every two years I try to do spending analysis and load up ynab again (the original desktop version)
it lasts shorter every time I do it, and I just revert back to “okay I make about this much, these are my bills and savings that automatically transfer/pay, so I should be able to spend around x amount” and then just keeping an eye on minimum balances. I just can’t do all the work categorizing spending like I just don’t really care where I’m spending money, as long as it’s within reason
Buckets has a similar vibe to ynab, but less demanding in that regard. You can do it if you want, but it can be a pretty basic envelop system too.
I just make my direct deposit put certain amounts of money into accounts that cover essential things like bills, mortgage, savings, retirement, etc. Then what’s left gets put in my checking account. Thats basically money for spending on whatever I want or need that week.
That’s a good way of describing my system. I put the bills on auto pay and stop spending when it runs out.
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I don’t budget, would never be able.to follow it. Just good enough at being able to spend less than I make to the point I have a house.
