What's one budgeting habit that actually stuck for you?

What actually worked for me was making money management less “active.” I don't want to be stuck or controlled by apps or sheets. For me that meant automating what I could, checking in occasionally instead of constantly, and using a few loose rules instead of tracking every single thing.

I always round up when paying. If the bill is $47.23, in my mind it's $50. When I check my balance, I round down. If I have $270 left, no I don't. I have $200. So I always have more than I think I should. On pay day, any funds left over from last payday go into savings.

the 24 hour rule before buying anything over like 30 bucks. sounds simple but ive avoided so many dumb purchases just by waiting a day. especially late night online shopping when everything looks like a great deal but its really just sleep deprivation making decisions for you

Apps also don’t work for me

Using cash is definitely more intentional for me, and I tend to weigh if something is ‘worth it’ more than swiping my card…. Especially if it is online and I would have to go to the bank to deposit the cash to compensate. And some places offer a cash d*******!

When you want to buy something, think about if you really need this item, where it's going to go, is the joy of owning it with the price, do you already own something similar, etc This has saved me from tons of extra purchases just at the craft store, because do I really need this cerulean blue yarn when I already have boxes and boxes of yarn, or this beautiful picture frame that I don't really have a spot for, etc

Pay the bills first

Put money away for bills and stuff (and maybe a bonus savings) in a place where is is not easily accessible and is out of sight. Use cash. Carry a limited ammount of cash. Can't do that impulsive purchase when you don't have enough money on you.

stop budgeting: it's painful. most people don't need a budget, they need visibility into what they have available to spend or save (or extra to throw at debt). i used a spreadsheet for YEARS to track every past expense and deposit and all future expenses and deposits and could tell you how much i would have in my checking account at any point in the future. helped me IMMENSELY. went from "oh god i'm short for rent this month" to "yeah, i can definitely do dinner next week" without having to worry about overdrafts, etc. anyway, i finally built a super simple app to do this all automatically for me. i get an email every morning with my "safe to spend" balance and off i go

I’m an accountant so I found myself getting hung up on perfection which made tracking expenses a lot more tedious. I would have multiple categories to split things out but the time invested to do this didn’t equate to much of a return so I reduced my categories and created broader categories. This reduced the time it took me to track items, which helped me track more often, and inevitably stay on track better. My best advice? Don’t over complicate it. Keep your budget simple.