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Challenge Accepted!
Okay, @thisismylife, here we go. Challenge accepted! Even though I downright hate budgeting right now! Let me put that first. Simply because I don't have anything to budget for myself. LOL. Well, I laugh, but you could say I don't mean it. I've forgotten how to laugh after many years of financial hardship. As is well known, I currently have no income of my own. My partner's salary is a salary with which we can just about make ends meet in this country, but that's all there is to it. In that respect, you would say that budgeting is very important, and I would certainly agree with that. But, and here's the thing... My partner keeps track of it all himself!
Cutting Costs
When I also had my income, we had a joint bank account and the situation was different. More equal. But since my income disappeared, we both thought it was nonsense to have an extra expensive joint bank account. That just added more monthly costs that we couldn't use. So we closed our joint bank account and since then my partner has transferred a monthly amount to me for personal expenses. I stick to that, and I try to put some of it aside for unexpected costs. My partner keeps track of everything else, and I don't interfere with that anymore unless he asks my opinion.
So you can just say that I am not currently the 'budget manager' in our household, but that does not mean that I am not conscious about my finances. Of course, I am working towards one day being better off financially than we are at the moment. Unfortunately, I cannot decide this on my own, but what I could do is limit my expenses. And we did that rigorously. All unnecessary subscriptions have been canceled and new subscriptions will not be taken out.
Very Quiet!
When it comes to keeping track of income and expenses, it's very quiet. A few fixed costs per month, and some personal expenses. But with the amount my partner transfers every month, I can manage quite well. The only income I keep track of is the crypto income from blogging via Hive. And these can be easily followed via Waivio. With the HBD I also try to save extra to cover unexpected costs if we would otherwise not be able to make it. Of course, my partner tries to save automatically every month, and I also try to set aside some of my expenses. With HBD as a supplement where necessary.
Shopping lists
One trick I use to save on groceries is to do the whole week's worth of them at once. With a shopping list in hand, I only buy what is necessary, so I am not tempted to take extra things with me. Planning meals helps with this so that I can shop in a targeted manner.
As a matter of principle, we do not buy anything on installment. This helps us not be tempted to buy things that we cannot immediately afford. Avoiding debt is always our motto, ultimately debts are always more expensive, and if it is not very necessary, we prefer to save if we want something. But usually, these things would not be necessary and so we end up not buying them at all. Also saves an x amount.
No Debts
Although I currently do not manage the budget myself, I am indirectly involved in consciously managing money. Of course, my partner consults me before major purchases and we decide together whether that is wise or not. We have not consulted financial advisors, because we are both perfectly capable of managing our finances without extra costs. Despite our modest income, we have no debts, so we're not doing too bad in that respect, we can say that my partner is a star at budgeting.
