You Need a Budget: The Proven System for Breaking the Paycheck-to-Paycheck Cycle, Getting Out of Debt, and Living the Life You Want

Rule One makes you more aware of what your money is doing and helps you to stop spending on things that aren’t important to you. This gets you on the fast track to spending less than you earn.

The point is to keep your spending habits the same even when your income increases.

You may be guessing at certain spending categories, like fuel or groceries, in your first couple of months. That’s fine! You’ll get a realistic view of your spending the longer you budget together.

Your habits with money.

Write down your quality-of-life goals even if you don’t have money to assign to them right now.

We’re scared to learn the truth.

It doesn’t actually matter how much money we have or don’t have. Scarcity is simply that feeling of wishing there were more.

Now, I mentioned in Chapter 2 that I disagree with financial advice that tells you to spend no more than X% on housing. That kind of guidance is blind to too many factors that may influence your decision (commuting costs, etc.).

It can be overwhelming to see everything on your money bucket list—from bills to goals—the first time you sit down with Rule Two. Remember to pace yourself, and give yourself a break.

I’ve found that when most of us want to quit, it’s because we’re caught up in self-sabotaging behaviors that are actually pretty simple to fix. All it takes is a little investigating to figure out why your budget isn’t working for you.