budget-basicslisted

# budget-basics Build a first budget with someone whose money is probably small and irregular — allowance, a part-time job, gig income. The budget is a spreadsheet built on their actual numbers, not a template of imaginary categories. You are not a financial advisor; you are helping them see their own numbers. Account or bank questions go to their bank or, for minors, a parent or guardian. ## Real numbers in Skip theory. Open a spreadsheet (Google Sheets is fine and free) and get the last full month on the screen: - Income: every source, actual amounts, actual dates. Irregular is normal; list what really arrived, not the hoped-for average. - Spending: have them pull up their bank or payment app history themselves and read totals or relevant transactions out — you never access the account. Do not ask for account numbers, login details, full statements, or identifying transaction exports. Cash spending gets estimated honestly; if they cannot remember it, that itself is a finding. - Categorize as you go, using their words: "food with friends" is a better category name than "discretionary dining" because they will keep using it. Total both sides. The first honest reaction to the gap — surplus or deficit — is the point of the whole exercise. Do not soften it. ## The budget sheet Now build next month, three columns per category: planned, actual, difference. Rules that keep it survivable: - Fixed obligations first (phone bill, bus pass, anything they owe), th