The one where I rage against 50/30/20 budgeting in ten sentences

But first, a testimonial!

What would you tell a friend about The Good Bones Edit?

“100000%%%%%%% this program is worth it. Before working with Bethel I feel like I’d been spinning my wheels and not saving much for years, despite making more than ever-- and despite not making any big splurges. I am now a few months into tracking my own finances without training wheels, and I’m consistently putting real money into savings. The crazy part is that I don’t feel like I’m making compromises on the things that genuinely matter to me. I allow myself the gift of a generous cappuccino budget!! And yet I’m still putting money away toward my goals. The magic of aligning money with values. Thank you Bethel!”

Thank you, K.! If you’d like to feel like you’re no longer spinning your wheels when it comes to managing your money I’d love to work with you! Set up a free, 30-minute intro call and mention Deconstructing Money for a special offer on a truncated version of The Good Bones Edit, available until April 30. You can read more about the program and read more reviews at goodbonesfinancialcoaching.com.

People with good intentions who wanted to make budgeting more palatable and accessible to the masses created the 50/30/20 rule, a formula in which 50 percent of your monthly income goes toward needs, 30 percent goes toward wants and 20 goes toward savings.

I hate it.

First, it assumes your necessary expenses are ONLY half of your income. In a country where nearly half of all renters have just housing costs that exceed 30 percent, this is rarely true.

Second, it limits the amount you could be saving to ONLY 20 percent, when in reality it could be much more than that if your income is high enough and you have an aggressive enough savings or debt repayment goal. When I was making $60k in NYC (pre-inflation) in 2018, I was able to save 30% of my income (to redirect to student loan debt) and FI/RE adherents regularly surpass even that.

The 50/30/20 rule is a one-size-fits-all solution to budgeting that rarely fits anyone and can easily lead people astray. It can trick people into thinking they can spend more than they can, it trick people into thinking they can save less than they can and it can shame people into thinking they should be saving more when the cost of their needs and wants may not allow for that. In short, it’s useless!

I’d love budgeting to be simple but it pays to build a budget specifically tailored to one’s unique life and ambitions.

• The magic of “scary hour”

• “We all know the allure of "F*ck You Money."

  We all WANT F*ck You Money.

  But it turns out, for some people, there is no amount of money that qualifies.

  Because even if you have A LOT of money, but you're not willing to say "F*ck You" (i.e., stand up for your beliefs) because you have financial incentives not to, then you don't have FU money.

  You are still selling a part of yourself (your time, your integrity, etc.) because you "have" to.” - Meg Bartelt, CFP, RICP

• “Sometimes when I post about frugality or cutting out luxuries, I get push back. The YOLOers light me up and tell me to live a little and stop shaming people for enjoying a meal out. The point of this isn't to shame or suggest you shouldn't enjoy life. But it's to offer OPTIONS. You can certainly eat lunch out every day of your life if you want to! But at least do so with the awareness of what it's costing you down the road. “ - Jeremy Schneider

• “Never allow abundance thinking to deteriorate into magical thinking. Find the healthy middle ground between excessive optimism and scornful skepticism.” - Patricia Aburdene, Conscious Money