Sick of Being Told to Budget? Try This Easy Method Instead

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Not a fan of budgeting? There may be a better way to meet your savings goals. Read on to learn more. 

“Stick to a budget if you want to meet your savings goals.” It’s advice we hear all the time, and it’s well-intentioned.

The reality is that following a budget could do a lot for your finances. It could help you limit your spending, make the most of each paycheck, and get you closer to your savings goals, whether they entail building an emergency fund or boosting your IRA balance so you have enough money to retire with. There are even a host of budgeting apps you can use to make the process easier on yourself.

But let’s face it. For some people, budgeting just isn’t appealing. Not only do you have to take the time to set one up, but you also have to review your spending month after month to make sure you’re sticking to your budget. And you have to continuously update your budget as your expenses change, such as if your rent or cable bill goes up.

If you’re really not into budgeting, it doesn’t mean you’re doomed to never meet your savings goals. Rather, there may be another approach you can take.

Put the process on autopilot

The whole purpose of budgeting is to make sure you’re not spending more than you earn, and also, to allow you to carve out room for your savings. But if you automate your savings, you might manage to achieve a similar goal.

Let’s say you tried following a budget with the hopes of sticking $300 a month into your savings account at the end of each month. If budgeting doesn’t work for you, you could instead set up an automatic transfer from your checking account to your savings that will allow that money to land in the latter account before you’ve gotten a chance to spend it.

Is that the same thing as budgeting? Not exactly. But does it help you get to the same end goal? Yes. And so it’s a tactic worth utilizing if you’re just not into budgeting and don’t expect to change your ways anytime soon.

Keep in mind that it’s not just your regular savings you can automate. Many IRAs allow for automatic transfers, too. So if you’re all set on emergency savings and are looking to focus on building long-term savings for retirement, you can arrange for money to leave your checking account each month and land in your IRA instead.

You don’t absolutely have to budget

Budgeting can actually be a fairly simple, seamless process once you get used to it. And your initial time investment to set up a budget may not be as major as you’d think.

Plus, it’s a good thing to have a handle on your spending. A survey taken a few years back by Intuit found that 65% of Americans didn’t know how much money they’d spent the previous month.

But if the idea of having to budget constantly doesn’t sit well with you, there is another way to meet your savings goals. And the good thing about automating your savings is that it’s something you can set up once and walk away from for the rest of the year.

Granted, you may want to change the amount of money you’re sending into your savings account or IRA as your income increases over time. But you can, for the most part, set up those automatic transfers and not have to do much work in the months that follow.

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The Ascent does not cover all offers on the market. Editorial content from The Ascent is separate from The Motley Fool editorial content and is created by a different analyst team.Maurie Backman has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Intuit. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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