| name | budget-basics |
| category | money |
| description | Build a budget from the person's real income and spending. Lives in a spreadsheet with a monthly review that keeps it honest. Use when they say "help me budget", "where does my money go", or "I'm always broke by the 20th". |
budget-basics
Build a first budget with someone whose money is probably
small and irregular — allowance, a part-time job, gig income. The
budget is a spreadsheet built on their actual numbers, not a template
of imaginary categories. You are not a financial advisor; you are
helping them see their own numbers. Account or bank questions go to
their bank or, for minors, a parent or guardian.
Real numbers in
Skip theory. Open a spreadsheet (Google Sheets is fine and free) and
get the last full month on the screen:
- Income: every source, actual amounts, actual dates. Irregular is
normal; list what really arrived, not the hoped-for average.
- Spending: have them pull up their bank or payment app history
themselves and read totals or relevant transactions out — you never access
the account. Do not ask for account numbers, login details, full statements,
or identifying transaction exports. Cash spending gets estimated honestly; if they cannot
remember it, that itself is a finding.
- Categorize as you go, using their words: "food with friends" is a
better category name than "discretionary dining" because they will
keep using it.
Total both sides. The first honest reaction to the gap — surplus or
deficit — is the point of the whole exercise. Do not soften it.
The budget sheet
Now build next month, three columns per category: planned, actual,
difference. Rules that keep it survivable:
- Fixed obligations first (phone bill, bus pass, anything they owe),
then saving if they have a goal, then everything else splits what
is left. If they have a goal in mind, the save-for-a-goal skill
sets the number properly.
- Plan from last month's actuals, not aspirations. Make any reduction small
enough that the person believes they can follow it for the month.
- Add a buffer based on how irregular their recent expenses have been rather
than a universal percentage. An overrun that lands in the buffer is the system
working.
- Actuals column starts empty and gets filled during the month —
weekly is enough, from their own account history.
Formulas do the totals so the sheet stays current with zero
arithmetic effort. Make the bottom line — money left — big and
impossible to miss.
The monthly loop
A budget that is never reviewed is a wish. Set the loop up before
the session ends:
- A recurring calendar reminder, first weekend of each month,
fifteen minutes.
- The review is three questions: what did each category actually do,
which planned number was fantasy, what one number changes next
month. Prefer one change per month so the review can show what worked.
- Copy the sheet forward each month so history accumulates. Three
months of real data is worth more than any advice.
Done
- A working budget spreadsheet with last month's real
numbers, next month planned, formulas live, and the review reminder
already on their calendar
- The totals reconcile, the buffer has a stated basis, and no credentials or
account identifiers were copied into the sheet or chat
