6 Easy Budget Steps That Actually Made a Difference

After I recovered from the gut punch of looking at my very first post-college paycheck, I knew I needed to learn how to manage my finances, and I’d need to learn fast. The shock of taxes aside, I had also just bought a $700 television on credit (recent college grads, do not do this!!!).

Shortly after starting my new job, but before receiving the first check, I stood in the electronics department and conducted some quick math in my head; my yearly salary divided by 12, and surely I’d have enough to make the payments...It’s OK; you can laugh. The numbers on the first check stub told a sadder story. I’d have to make some tough adjustments.

Over a decade later (ugh I’m aging myself), I do have a firmer grasp on my financial situation. This has come from observing my habits over the years, understanding weak/blind spots, the simple math of making more money via career advancement, and prioritizing various goals. I worry less, but I think that’s because worrying has evolved into motivation. The past 10 years have shown I can learn and grow; what can the next 10 years teach me?

The Internet is full of finance advice, much of it practical and helpful. I’ve read countless articles and have expanded my topics of interest as I’ve expanded my finance horizons--from personal budgets to beginner investing, for example. While information is readily available, it’s up to you to tinker with your own habits, life situation, preferences, and more.

Here, I’d love to share what practical steps and experiences helped me take some personal finance advice from theory to practice, specifically some budget moves that actually made a difference.

I’m not a hardcore person. I don’t do hardcore workouts or diets. I consider myself pretty normal, so the following steps are more or less normal, accessible, and doable. Pretty easy to implement into everyday life, which is my goal. I’ve done too many attempts at hardcore money- or diet-type challenges to know they’re not sustainable.

Oh, one more thing: A little background about me, so I fully own where I’m coming from: I’m single, no kids, in my 30s, and am a communications professional (fine career, but not totally lucrative). OK, NOW let’s dive in:

1. Learn to harness time.

   I’m going to start with a larger umbrella point here simply because for me, understanding the upstream and my overall person is vital for helping me alter habits and establish better patterns in specific areas of my life, such as finances.
   
   The single worst feature, but also the best, that Apple added to my iPhone is that pesky screen time report. Worst because it’s, uh, a little shaming, but best, because it quickly dismisses my “no time” excuse for just about anything. Social media addiction aside, the screen time report shows us just how much time we actually have. So, why am I not using it to my advantage?
   
   As a side note, I get that sometimes our brains just want to scroll, and this article isn’t about reducing social media use. However, we can curate our feeds, so why not add some finance-related accounts, or other personal interests? At least add value to the scroll.
   
   All of this to say, I can, in fact, find and utilize the time I need to assess, establish, and act upon my priorities. And you know what? Free time is actually far more enjoyable when you’re more intentional about your schedule. But anyway, I digress, because this blog isn’t about time management!
    

2. Plan meals.

   I know. Groundbreaking. Truth be told though, this had a profound effect on my budgeting practices. It’s one thing to designate a certain amount to a budget item. It’s another thing entirely to stick with it methodically. And really, I had to apply the above point about time. I can take a small chunk of time to plan, go grocery shopping and then cook for the week.
   
   Planning doesn’t have to be fancy! There are tons of templates for meal-planning charts for this all over the internet, but most of them make my eyes spin. Honestly, just open Google Sheets, create a grid for seven days, three meals a day, and then sit down for half an hour and hammer it out. For me, this happens on Sundays, but it can be any day! Google recipes, try them out, and if you like them, make a separate column on your plan and add them there. Then, go grocery shopping and do the cooking.
   
   Personally, I don’t love cooking, so I plan accordingly. One-pot meals? Excellent. Easy prep? Done. Not a lot of dishes to wash? Even better. The internet really is our friend here, because you can google just about any category of recipes and find it. The easier you make this for yourself, the more you’ll not dread it and, dare I say, enjoy it.
   
   Anyway, all of this to say, meal planning and prepping doesn’t have to be a massive undertaking. It is a simple task really for a pretty incredible return. You feel like your budget is sound and your week is smoother, simply because you don’t have to think about what to eat.
   

3. Pay yourself more.

   “Here’s a step I can get behind,” you’re probably thinking. Well, hear me out first. This is kind of like when you’re on a diet and end up diving into a chocolate cake á la Bruce Bogtrotter in Matilda. Hardcore restriction just isn’t sustainable. So, when looking at your budget and figuring out where you’re flexible, or what “fun” money you have, be reasonable with yourself. Restrict too much, and you may go wild and blow up the whole budget.
   
   Instead, give yourself a little wiggle room to play with. See what you can reasonably uphold throughout the month. You won’t know your sweet spot right away, so be patient with yourself as you figure out how to both have fun and be responsible.
   
   Also, if you want to stay on the conservative side, setting a specific, well-defined goal is a tremendous help in anchoring your spending habits. You’ve probably seen a million of those debt-free folks singing Dave Ramsey’s praises. I think those feats are pretty incredible myself, but they’re not arbitrary. They all start by listing all their debts, and then they work toward paying all of them off. When your eyes are on a prize, it’s a lot easier to stay focused.
   

4. Use the right budget app for you.

   Finance apps are a dime a dozen these days, which is great that these tools are so accessible. Although I’ve found that it’s overwhelming to have more than a few apps to switch between for an entire picture of your finances. Think about what you need to know every day for your money--generally speaking, your monthly budget.
   
   I highly recommend attaching your budget directly to your checking account through bank accounts with built-in budgeting tools, like Simple. It’s more or less a digital envelope system. An on-the-go visual helps me think twice about frivolous spending on things like random snacks, clothes, meals out (a pitfall that meal planning effectively mitigates!), and other pointless pits into which I cast my money.
   
   Again, the key here is to not make this complicated. The easier the app, the better. The more streamlined, the better. The less you have to enter, organize, or output on your own, the more effective it will be. That’s why having your budget items directly connected to your checking account is so effective. You’re literally doing the work in real time, with the luxury of peace of mind, knowing your money is already designated to its proper place. Plus, you can keep an eye on each balance and adjust your actions accordingly.
   

5. Stop buying stuff.

   Speaking of casting money into pointless pits, I have curbed and am still learning to curb my spending habits. Yes, I know. This isn’t exactly groundbreaking either. But here’s where I’m trying to connect theory to practice. I noticed that my poor spending habits were mostly in the realm of buying extraneous “stuff.”
   
   As kids, and sometimes even as adults, my dad would say to my siblings and me, “If you watch your pennies, you’ll see your dollars grow.” Which is true! The opposite is also true: if you spend your pennies, you’ll never watch your dollars grow. It dawned on me in my late 20s that I’ve made, uh, a number of runs to Goodwill to drop off stuff I no longer use. Clothes, kitchen gadgets, random artwork, vases, you name it. I’ve always been a bargain hunter, so in a moment, it doesn’t feel like I’m spending a lot. But obviously over time, it does add up.
   
   I wouldn’t classify myself as a minimalist by any stretch. But thinking about how much I’ve dropped off at a secondhand store, resold, or just thrown away during my 20s makes me edge a little bit to that side of the fence. I’ve thought about how I’ve felt in those moments of purchase too--that the “thing” is the answer to the proverbial “all my problems,” or that it’ll help me achieve some sort of new transformational identity (this is many blog posts in and of itself).
   
   Alas, contentment is elusive, and remembering that has helped stop me in my tracks before randomly purchasing some new pointless gizmo that will inevitably end up in a wilting cardboard box within six months.
   
   (This is NOT about not buying avocado toasts and coffees to go. I love coffees to go. I love sitting in coffee shops drinking coffees. I hate avocados, so avocado toast isn’t an issue for me. But for heaven’s sake, go out for coffee.)
   

6. Pick up a side gig.

   Lot of chatter about side gigs out there. You read some stories about people hitting it really big with side gigs, which is great. For me, I needed to be able to show up and work, versus actually taking on multiple parts of a business.
   
   So, in addition to my full-time job, I got a job as a food runner at a restaurant on Friday and Saturday nights. I love food, fine dining, and food service, so this was like being paid to participate in a hobby that I love, and I think that’s the sweet spot. For two nights a week that I actually enjoyed, I was making several hundred extra dollars a month that I didn’t have to think about. Side bonuses included AMAZING food and food education, great exercise, and a release from my regular corporate job. (In corporate settings, people beat around the bush about their feelings and use ridiculous jargon that doesn’t communicate anything. But man, in the middle of a busy dinner service, restaurant workers FEEL things. And they communicate. It was the perfect antidote to my stuffy corporate day job.)
   
   Back to the whole time thing--it helped me to figure out I had large chunks of time to fill with something I actually enjoyed but could still get paid. This was important for me to understand in order to manage the rest of my schedule. I wanted the extra cash but only for a few hours a week and where I could leave work at work. Figure out what that looks like for you. There are a ton of options when you think about it. And the mental relief of knowing you have a little bit of a financial cushion is worth its weight in gold.

So, there you have it! Nothing crazy, nothing over the top, just some manageable steps to help turn all those finance tips into practical action. The older I get, the more I learn that there’s always room to grow and room to improve, but with the balance of actually enjoying life. Be patient with yourself as you figure out that balance, experiment with what works best, and make adjustments for each of your life’s stages. There’s grace and growth in every step.