Type ‘budget template’ into Google, and the sheer amount of search results will make your head spin.

The banks, bloggers, you name it – everyone’s got an opinion on the best way to budget.

Which is great, right?!

In the digital age, being able to find information via, say, Google super quickly is brilliant.

Here’s the problem though.

For me, 99.9 percent of budget planning ‘advice’ gleaned from the Internet overcooks it.

The more you overcook it, the less likely you’ll actually stick to your budget.

I’ll give you the lowdown in a sec.

First, though, I need you to do something for me.

Go grab a pen and a piece of paper.

Put the kettle on.

Print out last month’s bank statement.

Sit down.

Then take a deep breath.

Now… I want you to place each transaction in last month’s bank statement into four categories.

(1) Bills and living (2) Investments (3) Savings (4) Your ‘me’ spending

Are you with me?

Okay, I’ll give you 10 minutes.

Cool. You’re back.

You’ve got it all worked out – great!

Okay…

Here’s how simple your budget should be (and bear in mind, this is based on getting, say, paid monthly and focusing on one month’s spending)…

• Bills and living: 50-60%
• Investments: 10%
• Savings: 5-10%
• Your me fund: 10-25%
• Emergency fund: 5-10%

Now, it doesn’t need to be bang on at those percentages, as everyone’s circumstances are different.

It simply shouldn’t be too much more complex than this!