I don’t keep a strict budget.

Yes, that will probably shock some of you.  It might even be enough to make you drop your jaw.  But it’s true.  I don’t have a rock-solid budget that cannot be shaken.

Once upon a time, I balanced my checkbook down to the penny.  Armed with highlighters, I stayed up into the wee hours of the night trying to reconcile my bank statement with my personal records. It was grueling work but the control freak in me couldn’t let it go.  Then I had children.   Balancing the checkbook became secondary to things like, say, bathing.  Or breathing.  Basically, I was happy if my debit card was accepted at the grocery store because I honestly didn’t want to waste a single moment of my life looking at the statements.

Well, my life has come full circle in that regard.  Yes, I do care about having a positive balance in the bank but not so much that I will stay up late to balance it.  So far it’s been working.  So I will share my sneaky little tip with you.   I keep a lazy budget!!  It’s kind of in line with my lazy couponing philosophy.

I’ve tried the envelope system and frankly, it was just too much for me to keep up with.  I also didn’t like having that much cash laying around or in my purse.  So here’s my system.  I think it’s quite beautiful in its simplicity.

1. Figure out how much income you have.  This can be done in whatever interval you choose—monthly, biweekly, etc.
2. Subtract all of the bills you need to pay.  I keep a record of these on a spreadsheet, but a simple notepad will do just fine.
3. Choose whether your groceries will be budgeted with your bills or as discretionary spending.  I deduct mine as a bill since we spend approximately the same amount each week/month.
4. The amount you have left is your Lazy Budget.    Divide it by the amount of days in your interval (for example, 14 days before the next paycheck, or 30 days in the month.  Etc.)  This amount is your daily spending without going over budget.

Now, the main idea here is that you must stick to that amount of daily spending.    For example, let’s say that your daily spending is $50.  If you take the kids to the movies and you spend $40, you are within your budget.  You could choose to spend the other $10, or “save” it for another day or even just keep it in the bank.  If you go over your budget, then you must have a no-spend day to compensate for your overage.  See how it works?  I admit that it’s not for everyone, but it works for me.   (Be sure you check your balance at least a few times a month in case there are some unexplained charges.  It could be a red flag that your account has been compromised.) For those of you who are clucking at me about my emergency savings, don’t worry—that’s factored in as a bill.  Please don’t tell Dave Ramsey on me.

So what do you think of my system?  Is it destined to fail?   Do you think it would work for you?  Share your thoughts!