Budgets tend to allot cash for everything that we spend in a month. While a zero-sum budget is fantastic, it also helps to create a bare-bones budget at the same time. You can then compare between the two.
Picture: SeniorLiving.org
As personal finance blog Cashville Skyline explains, you can actually separate out your monthly expenditures into three categories: essential, negotiable and non-essential. The essential bills like rent and basic utilities make up your bare-bones budget. Everything after that can be examined separately:
My monthly expenses fall into three categories: essential, negotiable, and non-essential.
Essential expenses include: mortgage & home insurance, internet, alarm system, car insurance fund, medications, and utilities.
Negotiable expenses include: health insurance, cell phone, food & drink, personal care, and household.
Non-essential expenses include: car registration fund, savings, dentist fund, haircuts fund, Christmas fund, Cashville Skyline hosting, gas (car), gifts, and other one time expenses.
Of course, everyone’s budget will be different, but calculating your own essentials-only expenses gives you a sense of how low you can really go. This can particularly come in handy if you find yourself without income for a period of time and need to cut back.
Have You Calculated Your Bare Bones Budget? [Cashville Skyline via Rockstar Finance]
Comments
2 responses to “Compile A Bare-Bones Budget Alongside Your Normal One”
Car and home insurance and Internet is essentials, but health insurance, car registration and petrol is non-essential?
So, if you go to the bare bones budget you won’t be able to drive to work, and if you get sick you won’t be able to get help… but at least the car in the garage will be insured, and you’ll be able to pass the time reading lifehacker.
-If you don’t have health insurance, you still have medicare. You will get help if you’re sick.
-He’s not talking about paying for registration, just adding to the car registration fund. even if you do that for 6 months your car is still registered.
It’s exactly like the dentist bill. You can’t put it off forever, but if you’re running close to the line you can skip it for a few months.