Budgeting That Sticks
What a budget is, the methods people commonly use and why a plan that fits real life tends to last longer than a strict one.
5 lessons · Estimated time: about 2.5 hours
Overview
A budget is a plan for where money is expected to go. There is no single correct way to make one, and this course doesn't pick one. It walks through several well-known methods, explains the idea behind each and shows the trade-offs people describe.
Later lessons cover tracking a month of spending, planning for costs that don't arrive every month, and adjusting a plan when income or expenses change.
What you'll learn
- What a budget is, and what it is not
- How the 50/30/20 rule of thumb, zero-based budgeting and envelopes work
- Ways people track spending over a month
- How irregular and yearly costs fit into a monthly plan
- How budgets are revisited when circumstances change
Lesson outline
- 1. What a budget is: common methods Free sample
- 2. Tracking a month of spending Members
- 3. Planning for irregular expenses Members
- 4. Adjusting when things change Members
- 5. Budgeting as a household Members
Estimated time: about 2.5 hours, in lessons of 25 to 35 minutes.
Take the whole course.
Lesson 1 of every course is a free sample. Lessons marked Members are part of the $12/month membership in this sample program.
Demonstration site: enrolling sends nothing and creates no enrollment. Courses are general education, not financial, legal or credit advice; they explain how things work and don't review anyone's situation.