📌 TL;DR:
If traditional budgeting makes you want to fake your own disappearance, this easy budget plan might be your lifesaver. It’s a lazy budget method that still tracks your money without spreadsheets, guilt, or complicated math.
An Easy Budget Plan for People Who’d Rather Fight a Bear Than Open Excel
Let’s get one thing out of the way: budgeting is boring. It’s right up there with flossing, folding fitted sheets, and reading the terms and conditions. You know you should do it, but your brain immediately finds something else to focus on, like the ceiling. Or death.
If you’ve ever opened a budgeting app, saw three pie charts and a graph, and instantly closed the tab, this post is for you.
Because guess what?
You don’t have to become a spreadsheet wizard to get your money under control. There’s a lazy, judgment-free, and totally manageable way to budget — even if you refuse to call it that.
Welcome to the ‘I Don’t Want to Budget’ Budget.
What Is an Easy Budget Plan, Anyway?
It’s a way to track where your money’s going — without tracking everything. You skip the part where you categorize every coffee or squint at color-coded bar graphs. Instead, you keep it high-level, flexible, and simple enough to do while standing in line at the grocery store.
We’re not trying to become finance pros here. We’re just trying to not be broke on the 23rd of every month.
Step 1: Know Your Bare Minimum Number
Let’s say your income disappears faster than your will to live on a Monday. That’s usually because you’re not sure what needs to be covered first.
So: find your bare minimum number — the amount you need to survive the month. Think rent, bills, groceries, transport, medications, etc. No lattes or nail appointments yet. (We’ll get there.)
Write this number down somewhere you won’t lose it. Sticky note. Phone note. Tattoo it if you must.
✍️ Example: Rent ($1200) + Bills ($300) + Groceries ($400) + Transport ($100) = $2000
That’s your survival baseline.
Step 2: Use the 70/20/10 Lazy Budget Method
Forget the traditional 50/30/20. That thing assumes you’ve got your life together and don’t need to order sushi when sad. We’re working with something even easier:
- 70% Needs & Wants (Everything You Spend)
- 20% Saving or Debt Payoff
- 10% Whatever Fund (Impulse, Chaos, Chocolate)
This works especially well if your income’s irregular or if you just want a rule of thumb without overthinking every transaction.
If you can set up auto-transfers for the 20% and 10%, even better. Out of sight, slightly more likely to succeed.
Hot tip: Got debt and no savings? Put the 20% toward the one that’s stressing you out the most. Doesn’t have to be perfect — just do something with it.
Step 3: Automate First, Think Later
You are more likely to follow through on your budget when you don’t have to remember to do it. Automating your money is basically budgeting without the emotional labor.
Here’s how to be lazy and responsible at the same time:
- Set up an auto-transfer to savings (even $20 is a win).
- Use a separate “Fun Money” debit card and load it weekly.
- Pay bills via auto-debit so you don’t wake up to threatening emails.
You don’t need five different accounts or a complex financial flowchart. Just move your money around so that you don’t have to rely on willpower, because we both know how that ends.
Step 4: Track Just Three Things
You don’t need a full-blown expense tracker — just keep tabs on three categories:
- How much came in
- How much went out
- How much is left
That’s it. Seriously. At the end of the week or month, glance at your bank app and jot those three numbers down. This tells you whether you’re staying afloat or slowly drowning — without needing a degree in Excel.
If you want bonus points: Compare how much you thought you’d spend vs. what you actually did. No shame. Just vibes and data.
Step 5: Check In, Not Freak Out
Money anxiety loves silence. The longer you avoid your money, the more monstrous it feels. The ‘I Don’t Want to Budget’ Budget says:
Don’t ignore it. Just don’t obsess over it either.
Once a week (maybe Sunday night?), check in with yourself:
- Did I cover my basics?
- Is my impulse fund running on fumes?
- Can I still afford snacks?
You don’t need a spreadsheet. You just need a reality check, in your own words, at your own pace.
You Deserve a Budget That Doesn’t Feel Like Homework
Budgeting for beginners doesn’t have to feel like you’re being punished for not being born an accountant. You can keep things flexible, imperfect, and totally doable — and still be in control of your money.
So if you’ve been telling yourself,
“I really need to get my money together… but also I might nap instead,”
just know: this plan counts.
It’s not about doing everything. It’s about doing something. And that’s way more powerful than it sounds.
Final Thoughts (a.k.a. Let’s Not Make This Harder Than It Is)
If you remember nothing else, remember this:
You don’t have to be good with money to start budgeting. You just have to care enough to look.
This easy budget plan doesn’t ask for perfection. It just asks you to show up — in sweatpants, with three brain cells left, holding a snack. That’s enough.