Chances are, you’ve heard of zero-based budgeting before. But do you know what it is? In this article, we will break down zero-based budgeting for personal finance and exactly why you need it. I’ll show you how to use a zero-based budget app to track your expenses and save more money. If you want to manage your finances in a smarter way, read on!
Zero-based budgeting is an approach to budgeting where you start with a blank sheet of paper and start making expense entries from scratch. You have a few key advantages over traditional budgeting with the zero-based system: 1. Starting from zero forces you to prioritize and come up with a way to save or increase income. 2. It is much easier to make cuts when you are starting from zero than it is to cut from a pre-developed budget
Whether you take your finances seriously or not, it is hard to refute that feeling of excitement when you find a new budgeting app. I know I certainly get excited when I find one that seems to fit all my needs. So what are the best zero-based budgeting apps? In this article, I will go over three of the best.
If you’re struggling to manage your personal finances, a zero-based budgeting strategy may help. This differs from the more common method of tracking income and fixed expenses. It involves establishing a zero baseline and allocating funds accordingly. Learn more about the benefits of zero-based budgeting, how it works, and potential drawbacks below.
What is zero-based budgeting?
Zero-based budgeting is a method that has you allocate all of your money to expenses, savings and debt payments. The goal is that your income minus your expenditures equals zero by the end of the month.
You can repeat expense categories and amounts every month or mix it up. If you come in under budget in a certain category at the end of the month, add the remaining amount to next month’s budget or move it to another category, such as your emergency fund. It’s the same concept as the envelope system, which involves distributing money for different expense categories into envelopes.
Your Zero-Based Budgeting Options
If you’re still unsure of how to start a zero-based budget, it’s perfectly fine to start with an existing method. The most popular methods include the spreadsheet method, envelope system, digital software, and apps that can help you track your spending.
Some people prefer pen and paper instead of digital apps because they like the tactile experience of writing down their expenses in a notebook. Others choose to use financial planners because they have extensive knowledge about money management. For those who are just starting out with their personal finances or need help getting back on track after financial mistakes on previous budgets, it can be best to go through one-on-one counseling sessions with someone who specializes in budgeting.
Advantages of a Zero-Based Budget
There are many advantages to zero-based budgeting. First, it can help you get your finances under control and save money. If you’re like me, at one time or another, I have overspent because I wasn’t tracking my spending or didn’t have a plan for my money. Once I started tracking my expenses and made a budget, it was much easier to see where my money was going and whether I could afford something new.
Second, creating a zero-based budget helps you get out of debt faster than any other method out there. Tracking every dollar that comes in allows me to prioritize paying down debt while still having enough left over for emergencies or unexpected expenses (for example: car repairs).
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Disadvantages of a Zero-Based Budget
A zero-based budget will be more work and stressful than simply deciding how much of your paycheck to allocate. The reason for this is that you have to make all the decisions about your spending right off the bat. You may have to spend some time figuring out what bills you have, what they cost, and how they should be paid before you can even get started on setting up a zero-based budget.
On top of that, it’s important not to underestimate just how much money you actually need each month since this method requires that all expenses are accounted for ahead of time. This means that if there are any unexpected costs (like an appliance breaking down or a medical emergency), then those expenses won’t be covered by any leftover cash in the bank account.
Finally—and perhaps most importantly—a zero-based budget doesn’t allow for infrequent expenses like car repairs or annual home maintenance projects which can become major drains on your bank account if they aren’t planned well in advance.
Step 1: Total your income
The first step in creating your zero-based budget is to calculate your monthly income. This includes all sources of income, including:
- Your job or freelance work
- Investments and savings accounts
- Retirement funds (401k, IRA, etc.)
In addition to this regular income, you should also include irregular sources of money. For example: if you are expecting a tax refund that won’t come until after the start of the month but that can be used for expenses like rent and groceries, include it in your totals. If your parents gave you money as a birthday gift each month throughout the year until now and those payments will continue through next month as well – again – include them. You need to know how much money is coming in so that when making spending decisions later on in this process; you have an accurate picture of what’s available for use every month!
Step 2: Add up your expenses
In this step you will be making a list of all of your expenses. This includes:
- Monthly, quarterly and annual expenses (i.e., rent/mortgage)
- Savings and investments (i.e., investments in stock market or mutual funds)
- Debt payments (i.e., credit card debt)
- Monthly work-related expenses (i.e., gas for the car to get to work)
- Other regular payments such as subscriptions or insurance policies that you have on auto-payments (i.e., Netflix subscription)
- Irregular payments such as car registration fees
Step 3: Find the difference
The third step is to find what you think your surplus or deficit might be.
First, tally up all of the income and expenses in each category. You’re looking for a difference between the two, which will give you an idea of where your money is going. If there’s a surplus, that’s great! Put it into savings or use it to pay down debt. If there’s no difference between income and expenses—or worse yet, if you’re spending more than what comes in—then I suggest making cuts wherever possible until things balance out again (more on this next).
Step 4: Assign every dollar a job
Once you have defined all of your expenses, savings, and debt payments in Step 1, it is time to assign every dollar a job. If you are starting from scratch with no budget and no financial plan, this will be the most difficult step for you. But if you’re reading this article, chances are that isn’t the case.
There are many different ways to allocate all of your money each month based on what kind of person and lifestyle (or lack thereof) you want to live. The three methods I use are envelope budgeting, zero-based budgeting (ZBB), and YNAB’s Rule Two: Give Every Dollar A Job method for those who want extra guidance on how exactly they should do it.
When you’re using zero-based budgeting, it’s important to know your options when it comes to approaches.
When you’re using zero-based budgeting, it’s important to know your options when it comes to approaches. Here are some of the most popular ways people use this method:
- To manage money: A zero-based budget can help you see where all your money is going so that you can cut back on frivolous expenditures and focus on the things that are truly important in your life. It’s also useful if something unexpected comes up—for example, if one of your children needs braces or if there’s an emergency repair needed on a major piece of equipment like a car or home appliance. Being able to anticipate these kinds of expenses ahead of time will allow for a smoother financial transition than one that catches you unaware and leaves little in savings.
- To save money: If saving isn’t necessarily a priority for you right now (or ever), there are still benefits from using this approach when establishing spending limits for yourself—even though saving may not be part of the plan itself! For instance, maybe having more control over what kind of income gets spent where will inspire discipline in other areas like eating out less often or avoiding impulse purchases at Target…it could even lead down paths toward bigger savings goals like opening up an IRA account or starting an automatic deposit system into 401k accounts every month (hint hint!).
Disadvantages of zero-based budgeting
It is a time-consuming process
One of the biggest drawbacks of ZBB is that it’s time-consuming. The process was designed to save time and resources, but in reality, it takes more time than traditional budgeting methods. To make matters worse, ZBB requires that you spend money on consultants or software to implement it correctly.
If you’re looking for an easier budgeting method that still provides the benefits of zero-based budgeting without all of this hassle, check out our section on Excel spreadsheets!
It is an expensive budgeting system.
As stated before, zero-based budgeting requires a lot of time and effort to implement. There are many other factors that need to be considered too. For example, if you are a large company trying to implement this process for the first time, you may need more than one person just to coordinate everything. You will also need employees who have been properly trained on how to use their new methodologies so they can effectively use them when preparing their budgets for next year. This training should be provided by someone who has extensive knowledge about zero-based budgeting or something similar because it can take a while for people who aren’t familiar with the system to learn all of its nuances and nuances about how it works best in your particular industry/situation
It is a difficult process to explain.
There are a lot of jargon involved in the process. This is one of the biggest disadvantages of zero based budgeting, as it can be a difficult concept to explain and even harder for management to get behind.
It requires a lot of explanation from top management, especially since they are not familiar with the terms used in this method.
It also requires training for all employees who will be involved in carrying out these processes (or at least those who will be working with them).
there are too many resources that are dedicated to this budgeting approach.
- Cost
Implementing zero-based budgeting can be expensive. You’ll need to hire more resources and train them on this new system, which isn’t cheap. In addition, audits are more complicated and costly than with traditional methods of budgeting because every expense requires justification upon review.
- Complexity
Zero-based budgeting is much more complex than other types of budgeting, so it’s not the best choice for organizations that lack the resources or expertise necessary for the implementation or maintenance of this method. For example, if your organization has never had a formalized method for prioritizing expenses before implementing zero-based budgeting (which is required), then you may find yourself in over your head during the implementation and maintenance stages due to the complexity involved in executing them effectively under these circumstances – especially since they’re so new!
It requires the training of employees and they need to be skilled enough to understand the concept.
If you are planning to implement zero-based budgeting in your organization, then it is necessary that you train your employees and managers. You should make sure the training is both effective and efficient. You need to ensure that they understand the concept of zero-based budgeting, how the process works, what kind of advantages it provides, along with its disadvantages as well.
Zero based budgeting has a lot very significant drawbacks
- Zero-based budgeting is a time-consuming process.
- Zero-based budgeting is expensive.
- Zero-based budgeting is difficult to explain.
- Zero-based budgeting takes a lot of resources.
- Zero-based budgeting requires the training of employees.
Conclusion
Zero-Based Budgeting means allocating each monthly expense starting from zero. That’s because, once you’ve incurred an expense and put it down, it is meant to be deducted. So whether is a utility expense, an entertainment expense, or a fancy new gadget you have bought, that amount won’t be included in your future budget.
While Zero Based Budgeting has its detractors, the advantages are usually clear: it reduces the “human element” present in the old cash-flow method. If you want a quicker way to manage your finances and avoid that sinking feeling you can get when your bank account dips into the red, zero-based budgeting may be right for you.