Me and the Budget

I might be a little bit weird, but I really like numbers. They are rational, uncomplicated and unemotional. In the same context comes the budget – a nice mathematical equation where everything, if done right, adds up nicely in the end.

For me the budget is the tool to get what I want. It gives me the framework that I have to work within without going out of its borders. At this point in my life I want to try to work on my own projects and ideas in my own time. This means not having a regular job with regular working hours. As I am a rational (!) person, I understand that this means not having a regular income anymore and this is where I feel that the budget is an important tool. This is where I add my numbers so that the bottom line at the end of every month looks as I want it to (or at least close to it).

What I want is that my expenses are not bigger than my incomes. If they are the same, I come out balanced at the end of the month and if my income is bigger than my expenses, I will even have some kind of surplus that I can set aside. What I don’t want is having my expenses exceed my income and then putting my balance account in minus.

Here is what our monthly budget looks like:

Of course it is ever changing even if the numbers are rounded up to try and cover the unexpected but this is basically the framework that we work within. Bottom line is: do we want to break even then we have to earn at least what we spend. As I can’t predict my income, I can at least do my very best to control my expenses and keep them on the lowest possible level that I can without compromising the quality of my life.