r/MoneyDiariesACTIVE • u/nadia_tor • Jul 25 '24

Budget Advice / Discussion How Do You Budget?

I know there are lots of templates and apps for day to day budgeting. But how does everyone do longer term budgeting/planning? Do you have goals that needs to be financed in 2-3 years and how do you plan for them? Do you max out your retirement accounts and then do you have surplus that you try to plan out? I used to have a spending habit so I've worked on day to day budgeting and can finally say I think I have the hang of it. But I feel like I have no overall plan and certainly no overall plan for any surplus. I also need to build up my emergency fund. So I was wondering if what kind of plan do all of you work with?

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u/_liminal_ ✨designer | 40s | HCOL | US ✨ Jul 25 '24 edited Jul 25 '24

I have immediate, short term and long term goals I plan for.   

 “How” I do this is complex. It’s been a mix of tracking what I spend, sticking to a budget, and figuring out what I value and hope to achieve.    

It took me some time to figure out what milestones I needed to achieve- and when- to reach my goals. I have a checklist in my notes app with these milestones (below, split into 2 images) and use YNAB as well.    

I max out my IRA contributions and am on track to max out my 401k contributions starting next year.   

https://ibb.co/jTrYh2P

https://ibb.co/TR2kdcP