9 Ways You're Sabotaging Your Budget Without Realizing It

[@shamainedaniels7284]

So my ex and I would create spending plans each week and we would always run over budget and we never knew why. I then decided to use mint because maybe I was missing something. It turned out my ex was an alcoholic so never saw his alcohol purchases as unnecessary. Needless to say he spent the next year trying to convince me his alcohol purchases were mislabeled by the credit card companies and needles to say that besides the financial drain, having a third party present your expenses can also bring to light other problems in your household.

[@financialnutrition]

Definitely good to have a plan, similar content at Financial Nutrition!

[@Polkadot2]

I suspect this is one of the reasons he is now an ex...

[@Questionablexfun]

Lol I hard relate to this as I too had an ex I budgeted with who I gasped at the amount spent in the alcohol category a week. 🤔

[@elizabethfox3769]

Ugh I can so relate to this. I had an ex who tried to hide his drinking and gambling habit, until I saw MY credit card bill come in with payments to gambling websites (this was early 00's) that I didn't make. After months of arguing with Visa that I didn't pay for these services, it turns out it was HIM all along 🤬 Bottom Line: check your balances, check your transactions, activities, ALL OF IT. Know where your money is going and be certain you can account for EVERY little transaction that occurs.

[@ChubbsTheCat]

I'd ask a few questions; did you not ever notice him drunk? Were there never empties laying around? And how often did you (at that time) check expenditures? I know I like to drink, it's built into my budget. I'm probably in the 'incredibly high functioning alcoholic' list, but I don't go to bars etc. and only spend 30 bucks on it, less than probably most people on here spend on their morning Dunkin'/Starbucks purchase.

[@sindhusekar1]

9 budgeting mistakes are: 1. Underestimating what you actually spend. 2. Not including irregular spending. 3. Not auditing your recurring expenses. 4. Continuing the same negative spending habits. 5. Doing it all manually. 6. Planning to save after you spend. 7. Not automatically divvying up pay checks. 8. Not adding an income stream. 9. Spending your emergency fund on non-emergencies.

[@XevLexa]

Thank you

[@mjhmn]

tyty

[@xsakuravenx]

Underestimating What You Actually Spend 1:09 Not Including Irregular Spending 2:09 Not Auditing You Recurring Expenses 3:11 Continuing the Same Negative Spending Habits 4:22 Doing It All Manually 6:09 Planning To Save After You Spend 7:42 Not Automatically Divvying Paychecks 8:53 Not Adding An Income Stream 10:43 Spending You Emergency Fund On Non-Emergencies 12:20

[@myrtlebeachsara]

Thank you 😊

[@gamingwithjemelair5099]

God bless your heart

[@michellecheng8992]

you are the best kind of people

[@lnilin8810]

Thank so much

[@Nikdislikesyou]

Hello! I have adhd and i have a real problem impulse spending is extremely hard to budget. Would you please make a video targeted to adhd or neurodivergent friendly budgeting tips please

[@nUriacbrillas]

Yes!! I need this too

[@pamimoo]

One thing I do is have a small amount I take out every paycheck (10%) that I have in a separate account called “ADHD Tax” that is my buffer to prevent my impulse spending from going overboard. I also put my gas money and other mandatory spending in a separate account from my checking account.

[@pamimoo]

Frankly I am contemplating taking spending money out of my account for the week in cash so that I can visually know how much I have and can spend

[@da504ever]

why on earth would she be equipped to provide advice on this matter? talk to your doctor or an adhd specialist. In my experience, if you keep a running list of things you want somewhere you can see it and designate only 1 day a week for purchases, you will realize some of the stuff you don't event want at all. I was taught to do the same list of "thoughts" when I am at work and work through a specific time window before revisiting my distractions. The reason you become so obsessed with things is because your working memory is poor. if you write stuff down they won't swim around in your thoughts so much. try it and see.

[@tripsplat]

You know, I bet the channel How To ADHD would be a great one for her to collab with on something like this!!! (but also, check out How To ADHD! There’s a lot of helpful stuff there, even if it’s not exactly what you’re looking for)

[@sim771]

The biggest is not knowing the emotions and patterns that cause you to spend. - what time of the day do you spend - is it online or in person - do you have friends/family/coworkers who you spend more when around them - do you have other categories in life that you go overboard (eating, drinking, sleeping, etc) - do you have issues saying no and/or you cant moderate once you open your wallet - how is your mental health (anxious? depressed? dealing with trauma? Neuro-divergent? (Me)) - how are your family/friends/coworkers with money? You can make the perfect, most realistic budget that you can actually follow, but if you cant control your emotions, you cant control your spending.

[@Haiirrrr]

Wow. This is so helpful. I’m so great at planning and making a good budget but my execution is horrible. I’m going to use this to help me assess my spending. Thanks!

[@sim771]

@@Haiirrrr glad this could help! Ive had many years of bad spending and not knowing why. That is the list i have of my triggers, also remember HALTS - hungry? Angry? Lonely? Tired? Stressed?

[@whyaminotoriginal]

I FELTTTT that rant about streaming services...we've been duped

[@Fingolfin3423]

Speak for yourself!

[@bellasmith8821]

*"Unless you like noodleing around in excel sheets in your spare time like a psychopath"* Me sitting here with my excel sheet that I just learned how to do in my spare time 🥺 😂 I don't think I've ever made it through a single one of these videos without being called tf out 😅

[@ceeemm172]

I have to handle excel budgets for work and I’m happiest budgeting in my own format that I tuned myself… and I do not touch ANYTHING to do with interest because that is where my math will break every time

[@JeffreyPia]

1. Underestimating what you actually spend @ 1:10 2. Not including irregular spending @ 2:10 3. Not auditing your recurring expenses @ 3:10 4. Continuing the same negative spending habits @ 4:25 5. Doing it all manually @ 6:10 6. Planning to save after you spend @ 7:40 7. Not automatically divvying up paychecks @ 8:50 8. Not adding an income stream @ 10:30 9. Spending your emergency fund on non-emergencies @ 12:20

[@rosemaryarnoldYT]

Thank you sooo much :)

[@md-ob9nd]

Thank u!!

[@lemonadeslices]

thank you!

[@BreakdaHouseDwnBootz]

You da real MVP

[@melissachanthalangsy3091]

🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼

[@carmelcostigan]

On subscriptions I buy for a month or two then cancel and switch to the other one. Watch all the new releases I want them move again. I realised after buying netflix for 4 months and not once turning it on. So I pick and choose as things release

[@JAH-iu3yh]

Another urban spending issue: parking! I signed up for park & ride at work which is $15/mo, instead of paying $13 or 10/day to park at my office. I thought the park & ride would stress me out leaving my vehicle in a lot all day, but it is looked after and nice to be able to close my eyes for a few minutes on the way to & from work on the shuttle bus☺️ Convenience spending gets me. Hello Grubhub! That’s for another day

[@livefreediepretty]

Rotate your subscription!!! Have netflix one month , Disney next month ect . Like realistically if you have a job how many shows are you really watching at a time one or two , then switch and watch those shows

[@rebeccan4763]

We do this, except we keep them for 3-4 months.

[@bluejedi723]

I do that. Have disney one month, binge watch everything I want. Cancel. Then hulu, binge watch everything. Cancel. Then netflix. Binge watch. Cancel. Rinse, repeat and rotate.

[@blah914]

that's what I do :)

[@lmshanyfelt]

I do similarly. Once I've watched whatever I feel inclined to see from a particular service, I cancel it and move to another. It's a cycle. Except for Disney Plus, because my kids and husband use it regularly for the MCU and Star Wars content alone.

[@avapilsen]

I didn't realize I was doing this!

[@hollywatt4391]

My personal point of view of streaming subscriptions: have maximum of 2 subscriptions. Time is so precious, control the amount of time you sit in front of a TV. Get out of the door or go and learn something new! You will thank me later.

[@leab9435]

I rotate my streaming services. I don't have to have them all at one time. There's only so much a person can watch lol. Patience is a virtue. Those shows will still be there when I sign back up for them.

[@Haiirrrr]

Yes! I like to rotate as well. I find that the selection of shows on Netflix gets stale after a while so I end up barely watching anything and I hate paying for that. I like waiting a few months for more shows to get added so that I can resubscribe and binge a bunch of new content. Same with other apps. Its not only cheaper but I usually know what I’m going to watch as opposed to paying for a bunch of streaming services just to spend most of my time browsing to try and find a show

[@erickz7433]

I did not think of that 🤔 That’s a good idea 👍 Yes, these streaming services are always rotating shows and make your attention span go crazy!!?

[@gabzi27]

Was about to mention this myself! I can budget my streaming services fairly well with a little planning based on what is going to be the shows I realistically have the time to watch in a given month. I always start the subscriptions on the 1st of the month and unsubscribe on the 15th if I know I want to switch to a different subscription the next month. Also for a show that drops new episodes weekly I always subscribe for the last month it's going to be released and watch old episodes accordingly, this even works for mystery series like murderers in the building. Wasn't spoiled for that at all.

[@katywillett2590]

Irregular spending. When we had a dog, we knew about the big, annual vet trip (larger dogs pay more for prescriptions?). But quarterly trips to book stores never seemed to get looked at. Until I looked. While I still buy books as gifts, after looking at book spending on annual basis - am now eReader with library. Hundreds and hundreds on books.

[@ciannacoleman5125]

Yeah my family are bibliophiles and have several thousand books (not including the hundreds of thousands digitally), we were also homeschooled and practically lived at the library lol. Around high school I decided that a majority of the books I buy for myself or ask for gifts would be ones I had already read and absolutely loved to the point of wanting my own copy or ones I just couldn’t easily find from the library or other online resources. I also look to various second hand bookstores before buying new since usually they are in good condition and less than half the original price.

[@nsikamarietaylor314]

I’m one of those people who still write ✍️ out my monthly budgets and link it up to my paychecks 2x month. It has HAS saved me!! I guess I’m a control freak but at least I can see what and where my money 💰 is going! I’ve been experimenting with this for a year now, and I haven’t gone in the negative. A first in over 7 years!!!’🤓

[@mouseluva]

ExCUSE ME! I will have you know that my budget spreadsheet is a work of ART!! My student loan only comes in three times a year so I'd be lost without it each week!

[@impressionsofjapan8683]

I do add my spendings manually because it activates pain centers in the brain like when you use cash instead of a card. Especially the things you regret buying because you have to confront the numbers one more time.

[@justanotherjessica]

I've been tracking on a program (YNAB) but I'm about to switch to tracking manually for the same reason. Also, tracking online is just a bunch of numbers on the screen, it doesn't feel real. I think that allows me to splurge more often than I should, especially when dining out. I'm considering switching to cash only for dining out and Target runs so I don't overspend.

[@TCt83067695]

Ppl still use cash? After the pandemic?

[@tigana]

Very nice

[@avapilsen]

Interesting

[@carla919]

The thing is when one cannot work because of a disability and solely relies on government benefits such as SSD SNAP (food Stamps) medicaid and medicare which do not cover all medical costs or Put you on a spend down plan (Medicaid) Because you "have an excessive income" ($ 1000) per month it is very difficult to budget. This country is not set up in such a way to help those who live below the poverty line it is set up in such a way that the rich get richer and the poor stay that way. America needs to take a look at other countries who help the poor rise up in society by offering services that will help them rather than keep them in their place.

[@IyanaLowe.]

Do you have any activities or hobbies you like to do ?

[@carla919]

@@IyanaLowe. Of I do but I'm puzzled by your response to my comment?

[@janellentim]

My mom just signed back up for cable. After years of paying for different streaming services the price difference wasn’t significant enough to justify.

[@portalomus]

Thank you for the rant about streaming services. I got one just to watch one movie, and then two days later the film was no longer on that service...or any other! WTF?

[@dimplesd8931]

I hollered when you said Target! I budget and have, saving and investment with no debt, but my addiction is Target. So I budget $200-300 a month for “Target therapy” PS I’m typing this comment FROM the Target parking lot. 🤣

[@tab0108]

Yeaaaa I'm a Targethead too lol

[@kerrysullivan9399]

My hack for this is never stepping foot into Target. If I need something only Target has, I buy online. If I have to pay shipping, it's less than the extra things I would be adding to my cart if I was there.

[@beau-ti-ful5192]

Target is my fancy store! Lol. By going there, I ain't leaving with nothing. I'm coming back with something.

[@monarene44]

Target is a fun place to shop. Even a Starbucks inside. I wish I lived closer to a Target.

[@shannonceleste5557]

Me, stumbling upon this video and reading your comment after casually dropping $102 at Target in ~30mins: 👀

[@Cantrona]

I don't have a budget so much as a spending tracker. I have it all in one google sheets thing for the whole year, with some overall metrics like totals per category and averages per category. Having the manual tracker helps me take some time to analyse my expenses as I have to manually add them, and then the averages and totals give me a decent picture of when I'm spending above average. When I do so, I try to decrease the other categories. If i have to restock my spice cabinet, I may hold off on my amazon purchase or bus instead of taking an uber.

[@financialnutrition]

Google sheets are a great way to keep track of expenses! Similar content at Financial Nutrition!

[@arielpeterson8773]

Definitely felt that rant about streaming services. The cable companies have bested us. Damn them.

[@LiamRappaport]

I have an excel spreadsheet where I do my budgeting, planning, and projecting. I’ve been tweaking it for a few years. It’s amazing. Unless you’re doing mortgage or ROI calculations, there’s not much math you really need to do in excel; it’s mostly addition, subtraction, and some parentheses.

[@Maylis98]

Same, I did a budget on excel following the budget mom 0 based budget. It's easy to see during the month with your spending how you can adjust it. If you do paper I feel like you can't see before the end of the month

[@MsRight-sb5ds]

This is what I do as well. Zero based budgeting is very easy in Excel.

[@drefunk9458]

I also use excel! I update my spreadsheet twice a week and just have the sum function on everything. In fact, was updating it while watching this video lol

[@Yougaljuboja]

same, I couldn't live without it !

[@TheSecularMinority]

Same! Ive been doing mine since 2015 and sometimes I go back to old budget sheets just to see how many changes I've made over the years. I'm a madman and obsessed!

[@ArianrhodTalon]

"Not including irregular spending" e.g. I divide my annual Apple Music subscription into 12, and setup an auto-save for that amount every month. Once my credit card gets charged, I will take out that money. I do this for all 'predictable irregular expenses'. It greatly reduces any 'shocks' to my monthly budget.

[@PatrikKron]

It's a great start, it will almost certainly help. In the long run it's also important to regularly safe for the expected but irregular expenses. For example if you have a car, save for car-repair. Although to a certain extent you probably won't need a new roof, water heater and repair your car at the same time (although it could happen) so you might not have to "label" the different savings categories.

[@jampsonn1826]

I spent the earlier part of this year going through all of our subscriptions and figuring out how to consolidate or if we could cancel them. Ended up cancelling a few and then splitting a couple with a friend to reduce costs. Also my dad was gracious enough to let us use a few of his streaming services. Highly recommend reevaluating subscriptions if you are looking for a small way to save $ bc i feel like we sign up for stuff and then forget about it later.

[@osteophagus]

I personally would rather spend $65 a month on streaming services where I can watch as much as I want with no commercials than pay the same or more for cable where I'm limited to the broadcaster's schedules, DVR space/slots, and where 40% of the content I'm paying for is ads. It'd be nice to not have to be spread over so many different sites but it's currently the lesser of two evils for me.

[@jonathanfarquhar]

KZbin premium is 100% worth it for me. Rather spend a few dollars a month then waste all that time watching ads.

[@jaynapatel7961]

@@jonathanfarquhar ad blocker blocks all ads on KZbin 🤫🤫

[@adriandatura]

Choose the third evil of the two evils Join us on the wild seas 🏴‍☠️

[@matematicarka]

I doubt anyone under 50 wants cable? guess it’s possible?

[@matematicarka]

@@jonathanfarquhar Same!

[@feylights166]

Subscription services really milk you. And I agree with the frustration of all the streaming services!

[@bigcatlivesmatter]

This is great advice. I've been using 1 credit card for all of my monthly expenses; including doctor appointments. Excluding rent. I can keep track of all of my living expenses. Then, I pay the entire bill the following month. I rarely carry balance -- except for extreme emergencies, that go beyond money I have saved for that purpose. Using this method- makes it easier to keep track of speding and savings. I also keep a physical record ; a couple of months in advance.

[@EpicWin1337]

As an accountant I noodle in excel for my own budget review. It's an hour a month most of which is reclassing expenses to categories that make better sense. Example my transfer to my brokerage every month is classified as "entertainment".

[@rosemarywilliams9969]

Sadly my bad habit is giving away money. I know it's not going to make people like me more but I find myself falling back into that habit when life gets overwhelming. So I've come to budget for it while still trying to fight the habit. As my big sis tells me, you can't buy love and she also said I've turned her kids into spilled unrealistic kids, telling her "aunt Rose will pay for it don't worry".😫

[@CD-vu8hh]

Wow, I related to this! I'm a little better off financially than my siblings (but still just barely not living paycheck to paycheck) and I find myself always offering to pay for everything when I spend time with my sibs. Even though they have full-time jobs, I feel the need to offer to pay for everything because I make a little more. My parents have even commented on it! 😬

[@PinkDiamond7777777]

😭 Courage !

[@BewareTheLilyOfTheValley]

I get paid every other week and have found that while one paycheck has to go almost entirely for rent and a few bills, my second one covers a few bills but once things finally get settled (in the midst of buying new furniture after moving), I should have about $700 from that check to spend or save as I wish. I'd like to get a new car since my current one has damage from an accident, is no longer made, and is falling apart left and right (the serpentine belt just broke on it two days ago. Thankfully, the part is cheap to buy but I don't feel comfortable doing the repair myself so I now have to pay to have it towed and the belt installed. Also need my coolant hoses replaced as I have a leak and any coolant put in it just drains out within a day 😓. And while not important here in fall/winter, my AC deposits water on the passenger side floor. I feel I'm spending more time with my car not working than driving it. I own the car with no more payments but I'm worried I'm living a sunk-cost fallacy).

[@DavidEVogel]

Why not a gently used car with less than 10000 miles?

[@BewareTheLilyOfTheValley]

@@DavidEVogel Because those aren't easy to find within what I can afford. The less miles, the more it's worth in most cases.

[@brittanyleondike4823]

If your thinking about getting a used car look for one 5-8 years old with under 50,000 miles. They tend to be well taken care of and reasonable price.

[@BewareTheLilyOfTheValley]

@@brittanyleondike4823 Newer is what I'm really preferring (doesn't have to have fancy bells and whistles, but my current car is from 2004 and I'd like to get a car that's not from that era). Five or six years is about as far back as I want to go. I'll certainly try to find something that has low mileage, but I unfortunately lost my job (they had to let pretty much all of us go), so now I'm just hunting for something new to get back on track :)

[@brittanyleondike4823]

@@BewareTheLilyOfTheValley good luck finding a new job and car that fits your needs.

[@alexandrac591]

My problem is I collect a lot of data rigorously but don't always do anything with the data. I have a beautiful spreadsheet I've developed for years, but the "fuck-it" mode still creeps in. I do set aside money for savings, but the irregular spending gets me every time. Here's to a new year coming soon so I can keep trying.

[@marksilla8276]

How about waiting for a new year to come in to stop the spending. Try easing into it. You could set it like a psychological trial month. Before the "real thing " that way by January you have some willpower

[@drefunk9458]

same lol I'm going to keep trying right along with you!

[@alexandrac591]

@@marksilla8276 right but in December it's extremely hard to do that because of the holidays and some of that is unavoidable

[@AnneliseB23]

I cannot wait to graduate with my PhD so I can finally make a reasonable living. I hate the academic mentality that grad students have to suffer. I try to budget now - and I do my best with creating a savings, but it’s so hard. I dip into my savings too often. And we aren’t allowed outside jobs since we are stipended as TAs (in my program) and we need to focus on our research - no outside work to try and actually be able to afford life.

[@turtlescanfly7]

Hang in there! I just graduated from law school and being able to actually pay off my credit card and start building an emergency fund has felt so relieving! After living like a student for so many years it felt weird to impulse buy a $13 book at Target, but the suffering during grad school pays off :)

[@mikailagray]

Not to mention how expensive applying is as well!

[@nora8010]

I'm in there with you! I'm still a student and it's very difficult to make a budget when you have an irregular income. But one think that I do is plan ahead if I have at least my rent money in income money it goes straight in my savings for that purpose only.

[@AliceDianaa]

Fellow PhD student here and I totally am with you on being excited to graduate, it really is tough living on so little income. Unfortunately being a scientist I doubt I’ll be on that much more afterwards, we’re not well paid in the UK! I’ve tried to create myself a pension account and save small amounts each month, but the smallest additional expense in a month and I also find myself having to dip in to my savings, so frustrating!

[@vg7985]

It depends what type of phd you are getting. I got my phd, and it did not help me financially, ended up abandoning my education and doing job that doesn't require any. :(.

[@BerBudgets]

On subscriptions I’ve found paying for annuals are worth it. Then I put aside money all year to renew them each year. ONLY for the ones so watch regularly. Always changing phone carriers and car insurance companies based on rates and service access. There is nothing wrong with always getting “new” customer rates for almost everything. Loyalty doesn’t always pay.

[@Undeaddog42]

I see how this can be valuable. I personally used to hop streaming services. If there is a show I wanted to watch I got a subscription for month, usually I canceled immediately so I only pay for one month and spend then I get to watch that show. Next month if there is a different show I wanted to watch I bought a month of a different service. The only service I paid for annually was Spotify because I use it daily.

[@u2abulous]

Totally agree on the streaming services! They cost more than cable if you have all of them. It’s out of control competition and marketing/FOMO that makes you think you have to watch the latest season of a show as soon as it drops. It’s like a gym membership - companies make money from people who aren’t using the service. I think we should all just have 1 at a time and then rotate as we get through everything we want to watch, or share accounts like you mentioned.

[@SpringSpark]

Oh pirate that shit.

[@DS-ff6ze]

I only use one streaming service at a time and alternate between them each month. I'd feel a bit bad about adding more subscriptions because that means I'm not getting full value out of the one I already have. Each streaming service already has lots of good options, more content than I'll ever be able to watch.

[@jochenkraus7016]

@@DS-ff6ze Get a streaming service, binge the stuff they have, get the next one ;-)

[@mathildelonborg]

@@SpringSpark that would be stealing and it is illegal and damaging to the industry which means we get lower quality TV in the future. TV/movies were so expensive in the past but today there is no excuse. It it is very few people that can’t afford even one streaming service. I just have one at a time. Works perfectly.

[@cbpd89]

An added note to putting into savings first. If your employer matches up to a certain amount into your retirement savings, oh my goodness move heaven and earth and budget so that you can put that amount into your account! If it is 3%, do what you can to make sure that you are putting that amount towards retirement because for the cost of 3% of your salary, you are now getting 6% of your salary put into your retirement savings. That's free money, folks. Even if you are 22 and aren't anywhere near retirement, you take that free money for future you!

[@jampsonn1826]

Couldn't agree more! My employer matches at 7% if you contribute at least 5% so I made that happen to continue getting that $ from them!

[@jazziered142]

I put myself on a really strict budget to get out of debt. Once I was out of debt, I found myself spending more money and not saving like I should. So I just set up an automatic withdrawal every payday to go into a separate savings account in a different bank than my checking account. Crossing my fingers and hoping it helps.

[@sister2mysoul]

This is WHY I don't think I'll ever unsubscribe from your channel!! Thank you Chelsea for this timely message! 💙

[@christineo8510]

I do my budgeting manually with Pen and paper mostly. I have an app that I started last month and don't like it. Emergency Fund should be for sudden crisis. That's all.

[@midnight_yota]

2 years later and the streaming service rant is even more relevantly

[@nursedru1548]

Steaming tip: If you have AT&T depending on your plan you’ll get HBO max for free. So check with your cell phone provider what incentives they offer

[@meality]

I love Excel sheets 😄 I'm doing all my budgeting (for my household and my non-profit association) on Excel because I find it fun !

[@KiraBKADestroyerOfWorlds]

That Peacock comment touched my SOUL. I'm so aggravated about The Lost Symbol being behind the paywall!! 🤨

[@chaoticneutralprofile5988]

No we shouldn't go back to cable. You had to pay AND watch ads. Fuck that. Though I agree that Peacock is kidding themselves with that

[@fvmiller1193]

Wow I am self sabotaging in most of these ways. How did you know? It is very helpful to know 1. others do this and 2. the bad habits can be changed. I feel a bit liberated and also about to delete my excel spreadsheet in favour of a budgeting app. What are some good ones?

[@PatrikKron]

I would not delete the spreadsheet. It has a lot of historical useful data. I've tried YNAB for half a year. I think their way of budgeting was useful to learn. I don't know if I'll keep using it in the long run though, since in the long run I find it hard to motivate the subscription cost, for me. I'll probably move back to a spreadsheet, or build my own tool sometime in the future.

[@themoneylibrarian]

once more for the people in the back: YOU CAN ALLOCATE FOR A BAD HABIT!

[@wootang911]

Cable was the worst. We had to pay $200 to watch commercials 🙄

[@benloesch2012]

YES! All these companies pushing subscriptions is straight up encouraging digital piracy! It's so stupid 😂

[@MrsBlack8998]

Great video! Exactly what I needed! Thanks!

[@cmntr_]

Does anybody else appreciate how good Chelsea's eyebrows look in this video? Just me?

[@SimMess]

Just pay yourself first - meaning put a certain amount of money for saving at the beginning of the month. than pay the bills, than live on what's left. Works perfectly for me. And takes less time than actually making a budget.

[@tlc2741]

I spend so much money on necessities-food, healthcare, toiletries-that I don’t know how to begin to budget-I just buy what I need but don’t have much left to save. I rarely spend a lot of money on clothes and my rent is very cheap (I live in a crappy apartment that honestly might have some mold so I should prioritize moving to a nicer apartment). Does anyone have any advice about mindset with these kinds of issues? I make 50k/year (before taxes) and also have healthcare expenses (I am rehabilitating from a knee injury and surgery).

[@aubreydeangelo]

If you don't have enough to save you're not making enough. Mindset change can't stretch a dime to a dollar. I'd consider a raise, a job switch or a part time job.

[@aubreydeangelo]

Best thing I've ever done: put everything that's not a bill on a Credit card. Everything is lumped together. No more going over in takeout budget and giving up sticking to a budget. I just check my balance every week and make sure it's around .25 if my overall budget. Also sinking funds for things like clothes and gifts.

[@TheDanaYiShow]

Love it! I'm definitely one of the people that likes to make spreadsheets for fun, so I incorporate a bit of manual tracking 😂

[@trblessed1020]

Ohhhh one thing that has been messing me up lately is those paying four services. I love it because it's such a short commitment and it's not running up a credit card but my God if you have 10 of those at $25 that is a ton of money every two weeks. That's one thing that I said that I'm going to work on in the new year after Christmas is done I'm not going to get into those as much

[@Ohh4udumn]

Me too! I have like five of them going on PayPal right now. It’s so addictive, I recently started one for something that only costs $40. 🤦🏿‍♀️

[@ThatJenN10]

I love the frantic, harrassed sidebar of more adding another streaming service. I feel like that is me! 😆

[@ChubbsTheCat]

It's weird, I find on these videos that the comment section and a common denominator often are people are lying to themselves.

[@rebeccahicks2392]

"There can be room for anything. There just can't be room for everything."

[@cristinaapariciolinale2119]

I have severe ocd ( diagnosed) this is really helpful when sticking to a budget. I do however am a tv addict so I go through seasons of shows in a week so paying for streaming is worth it ( though I counteract it with only going out twice a month as I actually enjoy staying home!)

[@frenchloverstalker]

I only pay for one streaming service a month. I cycle thru based on what is available to watch at that time. I am not watching them enough to justify keeping all of them all the same time.

[@JesusVillanueva]

I so agree with this strategy, personally I have Amazon Prime mainly because of all the other features and because paying yearly gives a slight discount. I don't care enought about sports to have a TV streaming services for that, so I sunscribe and cancel from services based on shows I want to watch. I watch those shows until I complete the available seasons and cancel the service moving on to another service/show. I can not and do not want to watch all the shows at the same time, 2-3 active servives at ones is all I need, Best part it's easy to cancel and reactivate whatever service you like.

[@eileenstuffs]

I love writing out my budget using paper and pen but I do use a calculator for the numbers. Is that considered “manually?”

[@Erintii]

For me, the hardest category of budget to handle is grocery. My mobile banking allows me to set budget so I can see how much I spend. Doing weekly groceries will never work for me. To make matters worse, I like expensive products like full grain bread or prosciutto. Going out or streaming are not mu concerns. Gym membership neither as my problem is that I hate exercises not have too many memberships. So I guess I need to increase otherwise I will fail. I need to add "travel" category and few others just like Xmas gifts. When I get my salary, first what I do is to pay my rent then I send money for savings account and then pay care bills for my Mum as they came after. I have automatic payments for mogile and etc. Definitely I need to change job from contract and to get something permanent. For me my savings are emergencies I don't touch.

[@clumsyninja1172]

I like allocating some discretionary funds, so that I have a buffer to cover any random thing that pops up

[@mikailagray]

I’m about to alter my budget to be a bit more realistic for my eating out budget. While I usually pack a lunch to work and try to eat at home because I am the only one who cooks and cleans there are lots of times when dinner is off the table. I spend the most money usually on food so I’m trying to get more realistic.

[@monriatitans]

"If you're not able to save, it means you're not earning enough." Damn...

[@SplaininToDo1]

Would you consider creating a video on the topic of when it makes sense to carry debt vs. save, if you can't save and pay down debt at the same time? I hear what you're saying about not spending the emergency fund on non-emergencies, but if you have to spend your emergency fund to pay down debt, can that be a reasonable thing to do?

[@erich214]

Paying down debt generally is a better action to take, as debt interest is usually higher. That being said, don't use up all of your emergency fund to service existing debt.

[@DavidEVogel]

Debt sucks. It means that you bought things that you cannot afford with future income. Interest is the punishment for doing so. Make a plan to kill all debt. Stick with the plan.

[@polymathica]

I have a silly question: What should I call it if I budget, say, $200 for electricity but then the bill comes out to be $67? What is that $133? I’ve been writing “refund” in my records, but that doesn’t seem like the right word (it sounds like the money comes from the company) and I feel like an accountant would have a technical term for it.

[@baizurazin2763]

Not sure what medium you've been using to record the transactions, but for me personally since i've been using mobile app, i just edit back the entry with its exact amount after the bill comes.

[@itskindofemily]

Maybe a surplus to carry forward? Like a roll-over or something

[@myaccount9498]

Electricity sinking fund

[@calibby85]

You have finally convinced me to stop trying to manage my own budget spreadsheet. 🙃

[@Prisy087]

Who in the wolrd spend 283$ on sub per month? Dont they heard of fire stick and else for 10$/month? Lol. Sad but free streaming is a must nowadays.

[@addicted2mako]

Whenever I want to use my Playstation Now Pass, I make sure to turn off the auto-renew feature on my account so I don’t end up forgetting about it

[@miriamchalmovianska863]

No subscriptions and no problem. Dont have tv anymore. Use only youtube. Plenty of docs available. Not missing on anything. Thinking only of audible for future.

[@JimACampos]

The mini-rant about streaming services represents me. These changes are going to make us go back to piracy.

[@JamesRoyceDawson]

Jesus who’s spending over 200 on subs?? I thinks I’m going overboard with like £55 between all the subscriptions I have

[@natek3954]

Thank you for another great video!

[@clairewillow6475]

I spent my emergency fund and retirement savings on moving to a new apartment last may 😅 slowly building it all back

[@clairewillow6475]

Back to say I made progress and the emergency fund is doing better 😅

[@TimeaPusok]

Doing my budget manually makes me a lot more disciplined with money because I feel like I'm physically working for my finances and, in turn, for a balanced life

[@Animefreak242]

Same. My friend carried around a ledger from high school. I had an Excel spreadsheet. We saved so much.

[@fatmat3460]

I absolutely cannot budget, but I have no problem saving at all. I put a certain percentage of my paycheck into my savings account at the start of the month and what I have left is my spending money. I also use an app to know exactly what I'm spending on, which makes me aware of my spending habits. But there is just too much difference between what I spend in certain categories from one month to the next, so trying to stick to a budget frustrates me.

[@trblessed1020]

You literally read my actual thoughts when Disney plus came out...I said NO out loud....but then my little brother got it so all is right in the world lol

[@AhmetKaan]

You'll watch an entire Netflix show even when the first episodes are slow and boring just because someone told you "it gets better." *But what if you looked at your goals like that and watched your life get better instead?*

[@texascoqui9789]

Does anyone have a good calculator to determine the compound interest you will pay over time for taking out a loan?

[@dominique971]

There’s plenty on the internet that allows you to input the variables

[@Cloudsandcurls1303]

I love the idea of budgeting and buying gift cards. I struggle with “good girl on a budget” and will usually get paid on the 1st, be frugal for 15 days and crash on an impulse purchase because I need something fun. So the idea of having these little “pick me up’s” budgeted appeals to me

[@TheQUBANQT]

I agree! I’ve been employed at the same company for years (2005). They recently announced a raise to the in house minimum wage of $22 usd. I support this change but salary compression is real. I’m going to be making $2 more than those hired in 2022 at an entry position. 🤯 This makes me feel under paid & under appreciated. To add insult to injury I’ve worked as a location independent employee for 8 years & they’ve decided to rework the company policy & discontinue 💯 remote positions. I’ve come to the realization 2 months of paid vacation time is fantastic but but it’s not worth the stagnant salary that will bite me in the ass at retirement. It’s depressing & scary. I haven’t had a proper interview (new company) in a life time. Reality Check: 39 & unknowingly leaving money at the table.

[@brookelouise4347]

I always make the mistake of not putting enough away for Christmas (nearly always over spend in that month).

[@mathildelonborg]

I have a specific account for just gifts and transfer a set amount each month. It works great because it is never a problem if I suddenly have to go to a wedding or to buy Christmas gifts. I use it all up on Christmas and start to build it up again in January.

[@rubybee2180]

I used to have Netflix for years and would only watch a couple of movies and one K-drama a year. I unsubscribed and told myself I'd only subscribe when I found something I wanted to watch and unsubscribe again when I finished it. This October, I watched Drive to Survive, and after binging it, I unsubscribed. I will renew my plan this December when our two-week Christmas vacation starts. After that I'll be too busy to watch again when I get back to work haha

[@scarlettbigam9893]

your hair is killin it chelsea 👌🏽👌🏽

[@rhodniajohnson1731]

Ohh man I enjoyed this video!! God knows why this popped up in my recommended videos!! Needed to hear this!! I especially liked the part on continuing the same bad spending habits!! Enjoyed this video and I just subscribed to your channel!!

[@jessm9520]

During the beginning of the pandemic, I bought a lot of crystals on Instagram live sales. It was a way of bonding with a friend and also served as entertainment. Thank God I was able to cut it out when I felt it was getting ridiculous lol. The raw celestite I bought also really might be working for my dreams so I can't say the crystals were a terrible investment 😂 and I was eventually able to save a ton of money 🙌🏽

[@DemetriPanici]

This entire holiday season is going to sabotage people's budgets

[@misspeaches1144]

I’ve seen tips from people to have a separate bank account for holiday season specifically, and they save a bit every month and put it in that account. I’m not a big holiday person but that seems like a good idea

[@DavidEVogel]

Charge Christmas gifts, and end up paying VISA for the next year. Merry Christmas.

[@rev.rachel]

Hehe I'm a pen and paper psycho :P I appreciate the recognition of us arithmetic nerds lol

[@ArielLVT]

Hey guys, can you create more videos about investing? Could you please talk about MERs and how money manager fees cost you millions in the long term? I feel like budgets are far more intuitive than index funds. Not to mention, you guys have a *ton* of videos on budgeting and spending money wisely and very few that delve deep into investing.

[@hameley12]

Hello! I have been watching Chelsea's TFD for years. You can also check out Graham Stephan, Investing with Rose, Nate O'Brien and Matt D'Avella. Yes, Matt focuses on simple living, personal life lessons but he creates videos about savings and investing too. I hope this information helps.

[@jonathanfarquhar]

$273? Wow. Here I'm unhappy about $60 a month.

[@to1620]

I just want a brick & mortar place with a real live person in it that I can go to for a sit-down session about this stuff. I watch ALL these videos, I have an attempted budget I’ve created, I’ve asked my CPA for advice (they don’t do “personal budgeting”) and I’ve looked for a certified financial planner in my area to help me-but I’m still not able to create the budget I know I need. It’s frustrating. Why doesn’t anyone do this type of thing for people?? Ugh.

[@DavidEVogel]

Have you looked at cash enveliope stuffung videos?

[@to1620]

@@DavidEVogel Unfortunately, that’s my whole point? I can’t really get to where I need to be by just watching videos. I need some one-on-one coaching and some specific questions answered. Trying to find someone to do this has proved especially challenging.

[@mathildelonborg]

Would it help to talk to someone online? I would be glad to be a sounding board, but not sure if that’s enough? One thing to keep in mind is that a budget is a living thing. In my experience you don’t just make a budget and then it works for years to come. I am constantly tweaking mine when things change or I realize the current budget isn’t realistic. Sometimes it helps to just go for it and try it out before having figured everything out and instead solve problems as they come along. After around 6 years of budgeting I never really have to think about what I can afford. My husband and I both know exactly where our limits are and have altered our spending habits to match. I have no idea if any of this are helpful (probably not) but I really hope you find something that works for you!

[@jennyrieras431]

😂😂😂 I feel you about the streaming services

[@laurens7431]

Content is fire lately❤‍🔥🎆

[@tschulitschulsn9910]

Chelsea pleeeease start a podcast!

[@pharmclare]

Wow amazing insights, thanks for sharing

[@anxen]

You can cancel subscription services Chelsea. If you Have to watch housewives (judging you SO hard) then cancel Hulu or Amazon or Disney+ or Netflix for that month of binging on the show you like. And anyway, alternating between subscription services is good for your wallet and your time management.

[@lionfish2201]

I actually forced myself to do my budget manually this year and I’ve stuck to it better than any app or even any template. It let me find a way that works best with my style. Of course it’s 4 different color coded sheets… so I may just be a monster who likes Google sheets too much

[@Nelle4ever]

Totally agree on cable! Partly signed up for Disney + just so I can watch classic Christmas like Home Alone that used to play approximately 1,000 times before Christmas every year on cable.

[@ladyvignette]

Course you could buy Home Alone for $10 on DVD and never need Disney+ again. xD