Budget or Not?

Financial expert David Bach argues that budgets don’t work (for most people) since they are inconvenient and therefore a difficult habit to maintain.

Instead, he recommends paying yourself first and making it automatic. This means deciding how much to save each month to reach your goals and then having that amount go automatically from your checking account to a separate account.

Once it’s set up it requires no more work and therefore gets done.

He adds that it’s still important to keep an eye on your transactions so that you can find more places to save.

While not getting involved in an argument between him and other experts who do encourage budgeting, I will say that at the very least it’s a huge improvement from not having a savings plan at all.