That kind of budgeting doesn’t work for a few reasons. First, there is no room for prioritizing. Every line item competes for your dollars and there’s no structure to decide what should get funded first. There’s also no structure to make sure important things aren’t left out. You probably (hopefully) give bills and life essentials top priority. But how will you decide what gets cash next, especially if you don’t have enough for everything? Put more toward your student loan balance, or save for vacation? Dump money into your daughter’s 529 or save up for her summer camp? Cue the running and
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