this post was submitted on 21 Feb 2026
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ADHD
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What does "official budget" mean? Serious question, what else are you supposed to do other than check your account every once in a while*?
* (and by that I mean get notifications from your bank if there's any movement)
A pre-plan for spending, generally involving an upper limit by category, including not only existing scheduled payments, but also ad-hoc spending.
Like most plans, a budget can be as loose or a tight as you want, and you may or may not follow it, but just building it can result in a more successful approach.
I think most people use a spreadsheet, so they can include some things that are auto-calculated, but that's not a essential property.
Some people use apps or spreadsheets to have a very structured budget. I am not one of them. I have a concept of a budget.
You can even predict more or less how much you're going to spend by your expenses history, but configuring the formula for that on a spreadsheet, or at least figuring it out, is a major pain. But once done, helps a lot. =D
I use a spreadsheet. Mainly so I can see where my money is going/how much I need to get paid to continue not being homeless.
To be very fair though this isn't a skill I learned so much as one that was forced on me by the military before they'd let me "adult". By adult I mean live on my own.
Very interesting, how’d they enforce that?
By not providing BAH/BAS (Housing allowance/Food allowance) to unmarried members of the military who wanted to move out of the barracks without proof they had had financial counseling.
In control enough of your finances enough to know about how much you spend on food, fun, and other living expenses, as well as awareness of how much you have (or dont have) available for spur of the moment things like bar trips or whatever on a paycheckly basis.
Bonus points for saving for plans for this year, to include that concert you wanted to see. Bonus bonus points for having some sort of plan for retirement beyond social security and walmart greeter.
I have an excel sheet with basic things like my income, rent, other monthly items, and rough estimates for things like groceries or regular hobbies. Then I look at what's left over and use that as a reference point. I definitely don't keep a very strict budget, and you vould argue it doesn't fit the bill for an "official budget", but it's worked well enough for me so far
Also my banking app has some basic budgetary info, so I can look at my monthly spending and such