Budgeting For Beginners | How I Save 80% of My Income

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In this video, we’re looking at how to budget and save money! I’ve been budgeting for the past 5 years by using this budgeting template that I created, and it’s helped me out a ton. Before creating my budget, I never really understood how to save money because I had no clue what I was spending. But now, I’ve been able to go from saving 0% of my income to saving 80% of my income by tracking everything and implementing 4 money frameworks which I’ll go over in this video.
The best way to look at budgeting is to treat yourself like a profitable business by looking at your income versus your expenses. To do this, you need to track your spending habits for at least 2 to 3 months to know exactly how much you’re spending in different categories. Then, you can adjust those categories in your budget by focusing on reducing your largest expenses to save money. After you’ve optimized your expenses, then you can start to focus most of your time on increasing your income because your income can be unlimited.
However, to save money and increase your monthly savings rate, it all starts with managing your expenses and budgeting first. Hopefully this video and my budgeting template can help!
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[@EthanPatrick_CreditCards]

Tracking expenses is one of those things that feels like it won’t help, but pretty much always does. And treating your personal finances like a business is such great advice! Tons of value here Daniel!

[@Daniel_Braun]

Agreed! I think many people underestimate how much they really are spending, so diving into the numbers and tracking things in a more hand-on way seems to have really helped me get better with my money. Thanks Ethan!

[@_nstar]

I tried this template last month and I managed to save about $900 out of my $1600 I got paid total. This helped a lot, thank you!!

[@Daniel_Braun]

That is so awesome to hear! Congrats and thanks for using my template and leaving this feedback! 👍

[@BobI-jb4rk]

Appreciate you having the balls to be so transparent and sharing your personal lifestyle & finances.

[@Daniel_Braun]

I always want this KZbin channel to be incredibly transparent about things going on in my own life and finances! Thanks for watching!

[@rafaleonard]

And to tell it like it is. I used to be afraid of finding exactly how much I was spending a month

[@lookherelooklisten7850]

To save 80% of an income you need to be earning nearly 120k a year, you can not save 80 or 50% of income if you earn 40-45k a year

[@donaldlyons17]

Yeah you might be right!!! My income is about 43K which is about $2,800 which is about $33,600 per year. After paying for everything the average would only be 5K so yet your totally right!!!

[@erburu]

This definitely does not work as well if you live in a thirld-world country lol

[@rafaleonard]

This is the best advise I've heard on personal finances. What has taken me years to finally understand in a way that allows me to make adjustments to the way I spend my money, you explain perfectly in 16 mins. Good stuff!

[@350GTxSiTH]

I started budgeting earlier this year using a similar template. And I must say it’s a great feeling zeroing in on where you are at financially. I’m definitely interested in using your template the beginning of the new year, because right now I’m just manually entering everything every month.

[@iGoByMatt]

Thank you. Finally got my ass budgeting at 26 years old. Great video, great tips, great editing, great delivery.

[@meoeacishbouldin9528]

This video was really helpful. It made me realize an additional step I need to do with my current budget. And I love the visuals. The best budgeting information I’ve seen so far.

[@trevorjones7523]

Excellent tip about managing your finances like a business. I truly believe concepts transfer, not just in finances but in process and development (innovation) too.

[@rawmakers]

This video is everything I could ask for and more! I’m living paycheck to paycheck right now, but am getting a job as an LMT and will be making a lot more money and I need to know how to manage it. Thanks so much for the template and the detailed breakdown, it’s exactly what I needed. Cheers!

[@Doublepulse]

I feel like you have to treat your personal finances like if you were running a business. Each Account is like it's own business and set of resources. One of the most straightforward videos I've seen that doesn't revolve around secrets, hacks or rules.

[@gramnet]

This budget worksheet is amazing it leaves nothing unknown. Thank you. I downloaded it. This is really going to help when I open my HYSA and Roth IRA soon.

[@nhuphuong060688]

Your template is really great! I've explored several templates over the years and kinda settled on one of my own creation until I found yours today! So very smart! Thanks a ton!!

[@blake3654]

Needed This Daniel, thank you

[@MikeMaye]

Personal budgeting is something most people don't do including myself and it really helps when you have a template to track the process. I think for most it seems daunting, or they just don't want to know. Thanks for sharing this and super informative as always. Great vid Daniel💥

[@Daniel_Braun]

Yeah budgeting can be tough to get started with, but I know that it's brought me so much more peace just knowing exactly how I'm doing every month! Glad to hear you liked the video and appreciate your support as always Mike!

[@LiamBuehler]

Amazing video man thank you.

[@versatilepal4117]

Thank you so much for sharing the template with us. 🤝🙏

[@lydianoelll]

I can't wait to start using this template, just downloaded it! Thank you!

[@druiz012]

Love this video, Daniel! I'm glad you're delving into personal finance!

[@Daniel_Braun]

Thanks David, great to hear that you liked this video! Yeah I'm going to be expanding the channel to some other related personal finance areas that have been important to my life as well - on top of the normal credit card content of course!

[@Falling2311]

thank you so much for creating this template. Pre-Covid I did almost exactly this but Covid + Isolation + Staying In = Increase in Depression & Anxiety and I stopped. Every time I tried to recreate my template it became so overwhelming while recreating the categories, functions, formulas, and adding up the expenses, I would just give up. Now that all I need to do is plug stuff in, I feel like I can get back on track. thank you, thank you, thank you.

[@BudgetBae_1]

Super helpful & love that the vid is quick and to the point!

[@juliancen2815]

Great video Daniel! I will implement this for the new year. Thank you so much

[@carliem9494]

That’s a very useful spreadsheet - lot of thought and work in its creation. Thank you for sharing it

[@Lovedbythealmightyforever]

Thank you very much. I had no idea how to even start.

[@JakeVanderPloeg]

Great video Daniel! I've been using your budget template for the past 5 months and it's really helped me keep my finances on track! I'm now saving between 30-40% of my income (which in Chicago is pretty good😆) Appreciate you as always!

[@Daniel_Braun]

Great to hear that Jake! I love making these budgeting videos and getting more people to download that file - so awesome to see that you're saving that much in Chicago!

[@RampageMaximum]

Hi Daniel! I just watched your video on how to transfer points for Domestic flying and I can’t thank you enough for all the guides and hard work you do! You even created a sheet to help us understand travel alliances for flights. You’re the reason I got into the credit card game and because of that, I successfully booked a 4 night stay at Hyatt in Times Square with my points. Thank you for all you do! :)

[@Daniel_Braun]

That is so cool to hear you say all of that! Congrats on the successful deal in booking that Times Square hotel stay - enjoy! Appreciate you watching and downloading any of the templates and guides that I've posted. I've got plenty more similar content to come 👍

[@jj-bu6yb]

Can you please share that excel:)?

[@JazzyMarineVet]

RIGHT, i love these content creators, seemingly random guys/gals that show up in your feed. The information you can gather is as good, if not better than a undergraduate or graduate level college course in finance, travel...heck any number of topics. I look forward to see what shows up in my feed....so I can learn something new and be exposed to a different oppinion

[@Daniel_Braun]

@@jj-bu6yb Here’s that other video that was mentioned which has another Google Sheets template available to download: How to Redeem Credit Card Points (US Domestic Flights) kzbin.info/www/bejne/q3q8Y2luht14fac

[@jj-bu6yb]

@@Daniel_Braun Daniel, thank you for responding- not many KZbinrs do this - have blessing day

[@BrisaniAshley]

This is awesome!! Thank you for this video!

[@tmglvr]

Thanks for XL - easy peasy....appreciate it!

[@laundrygoddess4]

I've been doing a similar style of spreadsheet budgeting for 3 decades.... I've never been able to save 80%. Little unrealistic for almost everyone

[@doctork1708]

Exact. You have to make a lot of income to do that.

[@donaldlyons17]

It might be the conditions might matter even more than income. Example from 2009 till at least 2011 I was able to live on 13K to 14K largely due to cheap housing prices while making 20K.

[@laundrygoddess4]

@@donaldlyons17 I've always had high medical costs but I'm in Canada where housing is much higher than the USA. I had a strict budget and could never save most of my income much less 80%. That's a real stretch anywhere unless you make obscene money

[@donaldlyons17]

@@laundrygoddess4 Well I would have though so too but consider this: if I make $600 a month yet my total bills are $400 a month I can still save 2K maybe BUT if I make 100K yet my bills are 101K I am likely broke each month. Not sure what the original host makes but it might be one of those situations.

[@laundrygoddess4]

@@donaldlyons17 then the title shouldn't be budgeting for beginners....

[@thewrldvsap23]

This has truly given me a clear and focus mind on where my money is going. thank you 🤑😁

[@ABasedTohan]

Bro this is right on time much appreciated just downloaded the spreadsheet, great breakdown

[@Daniel_Braun]

Love to hear that! Thanks so much for watching and downloading the spreadsheet - I hope it helps 👍

[@lobsangtenzing2013]

wish someone introduced this to me in my early 20's.

[@waibosibili8546]

Tracking can be hard but it pays off. Started this year well atleast to save. ❤

[@tiffhubbard4116]

Amazing video! Thank you!

[@Kryptik33]

Thanks for this Daniel. No matter how much I tried to save, I always seemed to come up broke. I'm going to implement this and check it every day to start really tracking everything and understanding where my money is going. My goal is to get the money I currently have under control via a budget, and then focus on increasing my income. Many thanks again. 🙏

[@grogu_2003]

Hey bro! Has it helped?

[@Kryptik33]

@@grogu_2003Yes it has. I can now go back and look at everything I’ve spent money on, and see how much savings I’ll have for the month.

[@leeallsopp5152]

Very informative and a great video , Thank you Daniel

[@iliketrains0pwned]

Thanks Dan! I have my own budget template I designed a while back in Excel. But I'll admit, it's gotten so complex that it looks like the flight deck for a Space Shuttle lol. Your design is going to be extremely helpful with simplifying things back down again!

[@AArmstrongC]

thanks for sharing!!! "SumIF" was the missing key for my budgeting sheet

[@JadeIsStudying.Shhhhhh]

How do you budget when you're on irregular shifts (not the same number of hours each week) while on an hourly rate?

[@Remy-dl6nc]

Thank you

[@sahilpatel5298]

Dear Daniel, I wanted to thank you for sharing your insights and providing such a helpful Excel sheet. As a recent college graduate who will be starting a full-time job soon, your advice has been incredibly valuable to me. Your video has given me a better understanding of how to manage my finances and set realistic goals for my future. I appreciate the effort you put into creating this content and making it accessible to people like me. I have subscribed to your channel and look forward to learning more from you. Thank you again for all that you do! -Sahil

[@Daniel_Braun]

Thanks for watching and subscribing Sahil! Glad to hear that you liked this video and the budgeting template, hopefully it will be helpful as you start your full time job!

[@BLANK2729]

I’m 28 years old with 2 kids and I’ve been living paycheck to paycheck since I was 13. Imma give this a try but to be honest I really enjoyed your video. I’ll see you guys in 3months.

[@mariesaver7184]

Looking so forward to your Excel, thanks for offering it for free to US ❤

[@ronnorman2]

New subscriber! I enjoy your content.

[@Daniel_Braun]

Thank you so much for subscribing, Ron! I really appreciate it!

[@DZB331]

You should come to prince of travel summit in April in Toronto. Gonna be a great time ! All about travel redemptions and credit cards

[@teena040296]

Very good video! The only thing I don’t do is calculate my actual spending. I take mental notes but it’s not as effective as seeing the actual numbers. Like he said we underestimate. I’m actually old school (as young as I am) I like to do book and pencil for my budgeting. Thank you for this video

[@michaelpantano3324]

You can use EXCEL'S data validation options to make that blue column only have certain choices. They'd appear in a dropdown and you could autocomplete that way too. If you typed "R" then Rent would be the top option left.

[@act110mort048]

This is a great video. I know that money means having to budget for rent, utilities, phone bills and groceries, but most people tend to forget that the food and diet aspect of budgeting (i.e. groceries) is very important. After all, if you're out of shape, there's a higher risk of getting disease. So, in the end, you'll pay more for medical bills. It's true when they say, "Health is wealth."

[@jimjam2095]

Solid video, thank you. Any advice on learning how to make google docs like this? I have trouble understanding some of the commands you talked about, thank you. Have a great day!

[@Daniel_Braun]

Thanks for watching! Glad to liked it 👍 I would definitely just recommend KZbin for tutorials. I learned some Excel and Google Sheets skills from different jobs that I've had in my career, but I also reference KZbin and Google whenever I need help with something specific

[@SpongeEvan]

Thanks Daniel! This is so needed for me being a Ph.D. student and planning for many international conferences next year 😂

[@Daniel_Braun]

No problem, thanks for watching! Yeah that can get expensive with all of those international conferences and travel haha - definitely good to track things

[@KarlaHarrison-nt6yg]

You right

[@jon-michaelchanner4998]

My man had to flex on us at the end 😂. All jokes. Just shows hard work and dedication truly pays off. It's justified . Great video Dan

[@TT-wj9tn]

Im glad you mentioned the 80% saving due to youtube.... To many BS videos trying to downplay KZbin which leds to false expectations. My savings rate is 46-50%, and i found it hard to do.

[@Sakurasan2023]

Love the video 📹 ❤️

[@Daniel_Braun]

Appreciate you watching as always, thanks!

[@Sakurasan2023]

@@Daniel_Braun you're welcome!!

[@bryanesquivel8784]

Hey daniel, how can i add more categories in the excel sheet?

[@Deflation2024]

Caleb Hammer would be proud!!

[@rileypreston4241]

Very new to excel so have some grace but how would you add another category line so that it works with the formula the same as the others?

[@theressomuchtowaitforseein3465]

Would you consider health insurance as saving or as exppense?

[@Reeses248]

I like this template and how it can give me an idea on where I’m at

[@adonai.films.]

when do you set you expense columns to start a new month sense I get payed on the 15th and the 30th of every month.

[@robertamazyck1861]

Question On the budget, What category do you put the tax preparer fee?

[@GrimTactics6226]

I make $19/hr full time, rent alone is one of my two paychecks 😂 50% of my income is housing I’d say if you make a lot of money 80% could be doable but it’s very unrealistic for most people unfortunately

[@donaldlyons17]

No way they make content for most people… doubt it would get views

[@MattWelterOfficial]

Super admirable Daniel! Coming off paying for a wedding, I'm trying to get my Savings Rate as high as possible to make up for some of that high expense 😂. Love to see your Savings Rate so high and the progress that you've made with it!

[@Daniel_Braun]

Haha I hear ya about those high wedding expenses - I'm going through some of that right now! Appreciate you watching Matt!

[@dela8893]

I currently have a checking account with a home based bank and am looking to switch over to a HYSA with checking account. How does it work with using checking accounts with those companies you've listed such as debit cards since these are not physical branches. Is it worth having a separate checking account still open with a "normal" bank?

[@tamilcartoons7251]

i am not getting this template ....! video is so nice and clear

[@chones_]

Step 1: make a lot of money. Step 2: see step 1.

[@Daniel_Braun]

Income is always gonna be a huge part of increasing the savings rate for anyone. But tracking the spending and getting expenses under control with a budget is for sure the first step to take!

[@grogu_2003]

Hi! How do you include annual fees on this template?

[@gerhardsmith185]

what would be the easiest way to change the currency or symbol across the entire template without affecting formulas etc?

[@user-hg5so7ct2b]

Thanks for this video, definitely helpful. I feel like you’d be great to start investing in real estate. A lot of similarities in what you’re doing and how to be successful in real estate. Just a thought!

[@yayebalay731]

Hey Daniel! Been here I think two years now! How can I use this template monthly if I fill it out right now?

[@user-jk6zp3ij5i]

When I watched this video, I was happy

[@peytonrogers8387]

Could you show us how to do the format to do the auto move from amount paid to actual amount please mine won’t do it😢

[@francogozzarelli3022]

is there any way i can get this template ?

[@jacobgreenberg8590]

What would u put under the category as misc?

[@hassansyed6087]

Sorry, I might have missed something or am about to ask a really stupid question but, How did you save 80% when your rent alone takes 1 whole paycheck ($100 left over) since it's $1600

[@andrewmathias52]

Love this budget template! I'm having trouble understanding the places to move profit section. If I have for example $500 in profit in B37 and I input that I'm moving all $500 into a high yield savings so I put $500 in B42 then the formula shows my total to be $1000. It should be $0 right? As in I have $0 left after expenses and moving money to savings?

[@Daniel_Braun]

Thanks for downloading it! So when you enter the numbers in the places to move profit, you have to enter it as a negative number. So for moving $500 to the savings account, just enter that as -$500 and that should work so that it’s zeros out at the bottom

[@wonnone6010]

How do we use the "Places to move profit" table because when i add the amount of profit that I put in my HYSA it adds up to my overall profit but i just moved it I didn't increase it

[@barbieamica2023]

Nice video Did anyone try to download the template? Is it secure?

[@Reeses248]

How are you tracking monthly? Just copying this spreadsheet over for each pay period?

[@OmegaRejectz]

Any reason to not just make the =SUMIF($G$17:$G$983,A15,$H$17:$H$983)'s to be $G$5 and $H$5 rather than 17 & 17, since that way it's easier to copy+paste a new row if you forgot to add something? I can't see it interfering with any of the rows above it if you make it higher up.

[@user-hp3bv6cq9n]

Hu Daniel. We are starting to use your budget template. We are just a bit confused about cell C48 total should equal to 0 the more places we move profits it increases this cell. What are we doing wrong?

[@anthony.v._c5737]

lmk when u find out cause im confused

[@Harshinstinct]

Do you make a new copy for each month? Wondering how that works

[@Daniel_Braun]

Yeah! Just right click on the tab at the bottom and create a new copy each month so that you can track throughout the year

[@angelor1171]

Where do you get the budgeting template from? I would like to use exact same one

[@Daniel_Braun]

If you watch through to the end of the video, I talk about how you can download it for free 👍

[@mohamedamadi2636]

The link for the free template isn't sending me a copy of the budget sheet for some reason. Is anyone else having this problem?

[@frostbite1770]

Does anyone know how to change the currency on this sheet? been racking my brain for ages

[@Shadow8411]

Bro CLEARING 216,000 a year. Totally appreciate the advice and template, but maaaaannnnn, the average dude is doomed. Save what you can but remember to enjoy your life.

[@jamesabar207]

And still has a car payment ? lol

[@alexandernaz3882]

Do you track debt payments?

[@RobertBeedle]

Not enough views. You're going to do well

[@benmartinez5009]

Do you do lead generation as well with our emails?

[@Daniel_Braun]

Nope, not at all! All emails are kept private and never sold to third parties. I honestly haven’t even used them yet but wanted to have a way to reach out to viewers if I have anything interesting to share 👍

[@sws2552]

How do you do this monthly? Do you duplicate the spreadsheet so you can keep a history of each month or do you erase all of the expense data each month and start over? or..? Thanks!

[@Daniel_Braun]

Yeah just duplicate the spreadsheet month after month so that you can track it throughout the year 👍

[@sws2552]

@@Daniel_Braun Thank you! I would find a video on how you consolidate all 12 months at the end of the year into one total report with tips for assessing and improving very helpful 🙏🏻

[@bebosalih966]

Hey Daniel is it possible to share that excel spreadsheet template?

[@Daniel_Braun]

Hey thanks for watching! It’s available completely for free in the video description 👍

[@Supdoode]

How to save 80% of your income : Make enough money that all your bills only cost you 20% of your income.

[@donaldlyons17]

Right but the worst part is they don't say well making way more than break even is key..... I mean it gives them options but external conditions matter when it comes to savings too!!!!

[@John_CL]

Does the template still work, it doesnt arrive to my email

[@le4511]

I gained a ton from watching this, and the budget Excel spreadsheet is fantastic and would help me significantly. However, I've not been able to access the Excel spreadsheet. Are you able to help, please

[@Daniel_Braun]

So if you enter your email with the link then you should receive the download in your inbox. That will be an Excel file that you can open in Excel or import to Google Sheets. Instructions for opening in Google Sheets will be in the email as well! Thanks for watching and glad to hear you liked it!

[@tineschrijvers3174]

Can a similar budget system be made on a simple word document rather than an Excel document if you can’t access Excel? Or can a similar budget system work on a MacBook using the Apple Numbers program?

[@Daniel_Braun]

You can use Google Sheets for free which is what I do! Just download the template from this video using the link in the description - then open up a new google sheets file where you can import the download. Theres instructions at the link in the description as well

[@tineschrijvers3174]

@@Daniel_Braun Thanks. I grew up before computers existed. I have always kept a simple budget system & kept track. I like the way you set yours up.

[@Daniel_Braun]

Haha happy to help! And thanks!

[@stayreal4l284]

How reliable is sofi?

[@calvinemery6585]

My problem. I’m using your template, but I want to be able to know how much am I able to spend for the week, and how much do I save ? I get paid weekly.. I’m not sure if I’m understanding the template correctly

[@zacherymorris5892]

Hey man I love this template, would there be anyway that you could send me this template!

[@Daniel_Braun]

It’s available to download for free with the link in the description of this video 👍

[@coleysays10]

How do I use it in consecutive months? Do I delete everything?

[@Daniel_Braun]

Just copy the tab at the bottom to start a new month

[@francogozzarelli3022]

i put my email to receive the template but havent received anything