The Retirement Newsletter: Thinking about budgeting

Issue Number: -23 — What am I to do?

Photo by Towfiqu Barbhuiya on Unsplash — Budgeting

Welcome

Welcome to issue -23, where I will be thinking about budgeting.

Budgeting

Budgeting is a simultaneously interesting and boring subject.

All the advice is that we should budget, budget, budget. And yet when you ask, most people will admit that they don’t, are rubbish at it, or are a budgeting pro. And the pros will say budgeting is the best thing since sliced bread. So what are you? Where do you sit in the budgeting spectrum?

You can split budgeters into two broad groups — macro-budgeters and micro-budgeters. And where do I fall into these two groups? Well, I am a macro-budgeter and not a micro.

Macro-budgeting

I am a macro-budgeter. And when it comes to macro-budgeting, there are two approaches. Some look at the big picture and don’t worry about the fine details, and there are those that budget on needs and wants. Or, if you are like me, you are a mix of the two.

If you are looking at the ‘big-picture’, you are most probably focused on something in the future. Possibly, your retirement. For me, that was undoubtedly true. And for years, I tried to maximise my input…