The bills that wreck a budget usually aren't the monthly ones. They're the expenses that don't arrive every month but always arrive eventually — car registration, the holidays, a dental visit, new tires.
Here's a budget anyone can build in 10 minutes. Take a sheet of paper and draw a line down the middle. On the left, list what you pay every month: rent, utilities, phone, groceries, the car payment. On the right, list what hits once or twice a year.
Add up the right side and divide by 12. That's what to set aside each month so the yearly surprises stop being surprises.
No app, no spreadsheet — just a pen, a line, and a little thought.
Rick Good spent ten years in the newspaper business, including with The News & Observer (Raleigh, NC) and The Greenville News (Greenville, SC). He co-wrote, with Melinda Coleman, Rutledge to Riley: Governors of South Carolina, 1776–Present (Published by The Greenville News), and is the author of Mind Games Trivia #1 (Amazon). He has recently spent 15 years creating original trivia content through Sounds Good Mobile Entertainment and continues that with his new company, SGME Software. He edits The Smart Reader’s money, real estate, and business coverage.
