I've had a fair amount of job instability over the last few years so I have adopted a slightly different way of thinking about budgeting.
Instead of viewing budgeting as "how much stuff can I buy while still saving appropriately" I started to set aside (even if just mentally) money for the next 3-6 months. It then occurred to me that I could do this on a yearly basis. I know with a high degree of accuracy what my yearly costs will be. So I am now filling up my savings account to the point where I would have ALL my costs covered for an entire year. The peace of mind of knowing that nothing I do for a year really matters is huge! Even if I get laid off I can basically ignore the problem for 6 months.
I also try to pay for things in yearly increments if I can. For example I got a mint mobile phone account and bought a one year package. I do the same with my music service.
I'm now going to start working toward making savings accounts for 2020, 2021, and maybe a year after that. I realize that this isn't the best idea in terms of investment strategy, but I think I like the security of knowing I have it already set aside and ready to use.
Maybe a similar approach would help others. Give it a shot and let me know what you think.
Submitted March 12, 2020 at 11:15PM by Reasonable_Policy https://ift.tt/33iGhC6
