2Part I — The Money Warehouse: Foundations from Babylon
Chapter 2
A budget that isn't a prison
Three baskets instead of spreadsheets with 40 categories. Why Benny abandoned his spreadsheet after two weeks, and how to build a budget that lasts a year.
Benny once showed me his budget. A spreadsheet with forty categories, colourful charts and formulas he was very proud of. Two weeks later he stopped opening it. The budget hadn't failed mathematically. It had failed because it was a prison.
Bennyyoung operator
I haven't got time to enter every receipt. I get home after ten hours.
Dirkforeman
We don't count every screw in the warehouse either. We count pallets. Make yourself three pallets.
Three baskets
- Fixed-cost basket — rent, bills, insurance, transport to work. What has to be paid even when you're having a worse month.
- Living basket — food, going out, presents, little pleasures. Here you have freedom, but within agreed limits.
- Future basket — a buffer, investments, professional development. You fill this basket first.
Worked example
An example split of a 2,400 € pay packet
- Fixed-cost basket (55%)
- 1,320 €
- Living basket (30%)
- 720 €
- Future basket (15%)
- 360 €
The proportions aren't sacred. To begin with, what matters more is that the future basket exists at all.
A budget works when it takes less effort than not having one. Fifteen minutes on a Sunday is enough: check three figures, compare them with the plan and decide on one adjustment. Not twenty.
4 / 14 · Educational content, not investment advice.