Absolutely! The 50/30/20 is both monthly and yearly. I ideally spend 50% of my income a month on essential expenses (ie. groceries, housing, etc.). But it goes for the year as well, so I ideally spend 50% of my total income on essential expenses. 30% on lifestyle choices, and 20% for financial priorities like debt repayment and savings. It depends on your job but my income changes monthly (since I do not have a yearly salary) so I mostly use 50/30/20 per month.

The ideal and budget is a section to help me with a monthly spending allowance. So “ideal” for food is 10%. If I make $1,000/month, then my “budget” for food is $100. “Ideal” is for a percentage and “budget” is for a set amount.

I hope that helps!

Is the 50 30 20 rule a monthly or a yearly thing?
Could you also explain more about the “ideal and budget” idea under your category? I am a little confused for that..

Ohh okay! I’ll have to write another and I do have a little bit more time on my hands now 😉

I tried to keep the receipts, but always misplace them 🙁 So maybe I will try your tip with the phone! No problem, I enjoy reading your post. I want to see another short story though! 🙂

I get that! I love that my credit card has online banking so I can look up purchases at the end of the week. If I buy something in cash I keep the receipt or write it in the notes on my phone before I transfer them into my journal. Thanks for always supporting my blog! <3