Look, I’m sitting here in my tiny Faridabad flat on January 20, 2026 at like 11-something AM IST, AC barely keeping up, fan making that annoying click, and I’m staring at my phone notification that says “You’ve spent 78% of groceries already” and it’s only the 20th. So yeah… how to create a budget you’ll actually stick to? I’m still figuring it out, but I’ve got some stuff that’s finally starting to work after approximately seventeen thousand failed attempts. https://www.rocketmoney.com/
Why Every Budget I Made Before Sucked Create a Budget
I used to do the classic thing: open Excel at 11 pm on January 1st, make forty-seven categories, assign very virtuous numbers like “dining out – $30”, feel extremely proud, then blow the entire “miscellaneous” category on Zomato orders by January 5th because my cousin visited and we ordered butter chicken. True story. Embarrassing? Yes. Relatable? Hopefully.
The biggest lie I told myself was that a perfect budget = success. Nah. A budget you’ll actually stick to is one that expects you to be a flawed, impulsive, coffee-needing human. https://www.rocketmoney.com/
Step 1: Start Stupidly Simple (Seriously, Like 3 Categories at First)
Don’t do what I did in 2024 and make a budget with “Spotify”, “Netflix”, “Hotstar”, “YouTube Premium”, “Amazon Prime separate from Audible” etc. Just start with:
- Needs (rent, electricity, phone bill, dal-rice type groceries)
- Wants (Zomato, cafe runs, that random ₹800 t-shirt I “need”)
- Savings / debt payoff (even if it’s only ₹500)
That’s it. Three buckets. I literally wrote them on the back of an old electricity bill with a dying ballpoint pen because fancy Notion templates made me freeze.
Step 2: Track Like a Psycho… But Only for 10 Days Create a Budget
Here’s the hack that actually changed things for me: I tracked EVERY SINGLE RUPEE for the first ten days of January 2026. Not forever. Just ten days.
UPI notifications screenshot → Google Keep note titled “WHERE MY MONEY GOOOOO” → at night I dump everything into three color-coded columns on my phone. https://www.rocketmoney.com/
After ten days I could see:
- ₹4,200 on chai + cold coffee (kill me)
- ₹1,800 on impulse Myntra orders at 1 am
- ₹0 on actual savings transfer because it never happened automatically
Seeing the ugly truth made me stop lying to myself. Highly recommend the humiliation phase.
Step 3: The “Screw It” Buffer (Most Important Part) Create a Budget
This is the part nobody tells you.
I now build in a 15–20% “I’m gonna mess up” buffer in the Wants category.
So if my realistic Wants number is ₹8,000, I tell myself the real limit is ₹9,600–10,000. When I stay under ₹8k I feel like a financial god. When I hit ₹9,200 I’m still not in panic mode. https://www.rocketmoney.com/
That little cushion is why this budget is the first one I haven’t rage-deleted by the 15th.
Step 4: One Non-Negotiable Automation Create a Budget
I finally set up an auto-transfer of ₹2,000 to a separate savings account the day my salary hits (HDFC has this option). I don’t even see it. It’s gone before I can Amazon it. https://www.rocketmoney.com/
If you want to read how someone way smarter than me explains automation, check out this Ramit Sethi post on invisible money systems – changed how I think about it.
Step 5: Forgive Yourself Weekly (This Is Where I Still Fail) Create a Budget
Every Sunday night I do a five-minute “what the hell happened” review.
Last Sunday I had to admit I spent ₹1,100 on bubble tea because “it’s been a tough week”. Whatever. I just moved ₹500 from next week’s Wants into this week’s and moved on. https://www.rocketmoney.com/
Beating myself up for 48 hours used to be part of the cycle. Now I just shrug, adjust, keep going.
Anyway.
If you’re still reading this chaotic mess, here’s the realest sentence I can write:
A budget you’ll actually stick to isn’t about perfection. It’s about momentum. Create a Budget
Start ugly. Start small. Start today even if it’s just three categories on the Notes app while your roommate is yelling at the Wi-Fi.
You got this. (I’m saying that to both of us.)
What’s the dumbest budget mistake you’ve ever made? Drop it below – misery loves company and I clearly need more 😂
