How to Create a Budget That Actually Works in 2026 | Step-by-Step Budgeting Guide for Women

[00:01] Hello and welcome back to Women for

[00:03] Wealth. So today I want to talk to you

[00:06] about budgeting in 2026. So I've done

[00:09] other films and talks on budgeting.

[00:13] And I think what happens with a lot of

[00:15] people, you start a budget, you follow

[00:16] it for a week or two, and then you

[00:18] completely abandon it. I'm seeing this

[00:20] more and more. The truth is most budgets

[00:23] fail because they're just too

[00:24] restrictive, too complicated, or simply

[00:27] don't fit your life. So today, let's

[00:29] create a budget that actually works for

[00:31] you in 2026.

[00:34] Whether you're living paycheck to

[00:35] paycheck, trying to pay off debt,

[00:37] building savings, or simply wanting more

[00:39] control over your money, this video is

[00:41] going to walk you through the process

[00:43] step by step. By the end of the video,

[00:45] you'll know how to create a realistic

[00:47] budget that you can actually stick with

[00:49] long term. Cuz that's really the goal.

[00:51] You got to have a budget that you stick

[00:53] to. It's got to be part of your life.

[00:55] So, let's get started. So, let's talk

[00:57] about why most budgets fail. Most

[01:00] budgets fail because they're just too

[01:02] restrictive. You know, it's a budget is

[01:04] simply a plan for your money and plan

[01:07] for how you're going to spend your

[01:09] money. Without a plan, money tends to

[01:11] disappear. It It's like money sprouts

[01:13] legs and just walks off. Many people

[01:16] create budgets based on what they wished

[01:18] they spent instead of what they actually

[01:20] spend. And that's a mistake. You got to

[01:22] be realistic. You know, if you normally

[01:25] spend $300 a month eating out, create a

[01:28] budget that allows $300 a month. If you

[01:31] put in your budget $20 a month for

[01:33] eating out, you're never going to need

[01:36] that. You're just not. Be realistic in

[01:39] your budget.

[01:41] Gradually improve your habits over time.

[01:44] A workable budget is flexible,

[01:46] realistic, and designed around your

[01:48] life, not somebody else's life. your

[01:50] life, where you're at, where you're at

[01:52] today, and how you live your life. So,

[01:55] how do you calculate your real monthly

[01:57] income? The first step is knowing how

[02:00] much money comes in every month. Start

[02:02] with your take-home pay. Not your

[02:04] salary, not your gross income. Your

[02:07] take-home pay. The amount of money that

[02:10] actually leaves your employer and lands

[02:12] in your bank account after taxes, after

[02:15] insurance, after retirement

[02:17] contributions, after deductions.

[02:19] Whatever actually gets deposited into

[02:21] your account, that's what you want to

[02:23] start with. If your income varies

[02:25] because you're on commission, look at

[02:27] six month and just calculate an average

[02:29] over a six-month period.

[02:31] And I do a rolling six-month average on

[02:34] this. So what I do is I'll calculate it

[02:38] for a six-month period and then the next

[02:40] month I will shift that six months and

[02:42] calculate it again. And that way I have

[02:44] a rolling six-month average of what the

[02:47] commission structure is and what

[02:48] typically goes in my bank account. You

[02:51] want to include all of your income. Your

[02:53] employment income, any side hustle

[02:56] income, any freelance work, any child

[02:59] support you get, any alimony you get

[03:01] paid, any rental income you have. Any

[03:05] reliable monthly income is a source of

[03:08] income that you should include. So,

[03:10] we're just going to pick a number. Let's

[03:11] say your average take-home income is

[03:13] $4,500 per month. That's average. We'll

[03:15] just build our budget around. The next

[03:17] thing you want to do is track your

[03:19] expenses.

[03:21] Let's see where your money is going.

[03:23] Pull up your bank statements and your

[03:24] credit cards from the last three months.

[03:27] Create categories. You know, a couple of

[03:30] examples of categories that I have in my

[03:32] budget are housing, that's, you know,

[03:35] mortgage, utilities, that's your power

[03:38] and your water bill. groceries.

[03:41] If you spend out, you know, we we do a

[03:44] lot of cooking at home, but if you buy a

[03:46] lot of food or you do Uber Eats or

[03:49] whatever, maybe you want to split that

[03:51] out between your grocery budget for

[03:53] going to the grocery store and your

[03:55] eating out budget, transportation. So,

[03:58] this is your your car payments. This is

[04:00] your maintenance on your cars, oil

[04:01] changes,

[04:03] replacing tires,

[04:05] you know, what whatever costs are

[04:07] associated with your transportation.

[04:10] You need to also have a line item for

[04:12] insurance

[04:14] as well as health care. You know, as you

[04:16] get older, I'm going to be 50 this next

[04:18] birthday. Health care is something I'm

[04:21] actually spending money on, which I used

[04:22] to not in the past. So, I need to have a

[04:25] line item for healthcare where I didn't

[04:27] on a previous budget. entertainment. You

[04:30] know, if you're somebody that loves to

[04:32] go out and have date night with your

[04:34] husband, include that in your budget. I

[04:37] think date nights are important. You

[04:39] know, you can get creative. We do a lot

[04:40] of stay-at-home date nights where we'll

[04:43] be like, "Okay, we're going to rent a

[04:44] movie. We're going to do some popcorn.

[04:47] You know, we're just going to take time

[04:48] to focus on being together and spending

[04:50] time together." Because it is important

[04:53] to invest in your relationships. Are you

[04:56] someone that likes to shop or do you

[04:58] have a job where you constantly having

[04:59] to buy the latest fashion? You know,

[05:02] include that. And if you're, you know, a

[05:05] a purse girl or high heel girl and

[05:09] you're buying on that, include that in

[05:11] your budget. Again, the goal right now

[05:13] is not to restrict yourself. The goal is

[05:15] just to get a picture of what your

[05:18] current spending habits are.

[05:20] Subscriptions, you know, there's so many

[05:23] subscription plans right now. So, if you

[05:25] had a subscription to something, include

[05:27] that in your budget as part of your

[05:29] subscription expenses.

[05:31] Any debt payments you have, credit

[05:34] cards, things like that, you want to

[05:35] include that.

[05:37] Are you saving? And I hope you are. I

[05:39] hope you have a regular savings plan

[05:42] where every time you get paid, a certain

[05:44] amount of money gets put into a savings

[05:46] account. It's high yield. or you're

[05:48] buying stocks or you're investing in

[05:50] 401k in addition to what you're doing

[05:54] through your employer. Hopefully, you

[05:56] have that, but you need to put that down

[05:58] as an expense because you're putting

[06:01] that money into savings every month and

[06:04] you're investing in yourself when you

[06:06] save money. A lot of people discover

[06:08] they're spending more than they realize

[06:10] and that's okay. This isn't about

[06:13] judging you. This is about just taking a

[06:15] snapshot of what you actually live and

[06:19] what do you actually spend money on.

[06:20] It's just about awareness because once

[06:22] you are aware of what you're spending,

[06:25] then you can improve it. You can't

[06:27] improve what you don't measure. So,

[06:29] let's get the measuring stick out. Let's

[06:30] measure what we're spending. One of the

[06:33] big biggest budget killers this year is

[06:36] subscription creep. streaming services,

[06:39] apps memberships software

[06:41] subscriptions, gym memberships, monthly

[06:44] box deliveries. Review your current

[06:47] charges. Anything that's recurring, a

[06:49] lot of banks, I know my bank does, you

[06:52] can do a filter that will give you all

[06:54] recurring charges that happens every

[06:57] month. Then ask yourself, do I still use

[07:00] this? Would I sign up for it again

[07:02] today? If not, cancel it. Get rid of it.

[07:04] You know identify essential

[07:08] essential expenses needs not wants. So

[07:12] what are some needs? Housing, utilities,

[07:16] food transportations

[07:18] insurance, health care, debt payments,

[07:22] basic communication services such as

[07:24] cell phone. So what are wants? dining

[07:28] out, streaming services, luxury

[07:30] purchases vacations entertainment

[07:33] premium subscriptions.

[07:35] It doesn't mean the wants are bad. You

[07:37] you don't want to live a restricted

[07:38] lifestyle. Life is short and life is

[07:41] precious. You want to enjoy your life,

[07:43] but you need to understand the

[07:45] difference between a need and a want and

[07:47] make sure your wants aren't controlling

[07:48] your financial decisions. A great way to

[07:51] start is the 50 3020 rule.

[07:54] So what is the 50 3020 rule? So 50% has

[07:59] to go to your needs. 30% you could put

[08:02] toward wants. 20% needs to go to savings

[08:06] and debt reduction. So let's go back to

[08:08] that $4,500 a month income that we came

[08:12] up with previously that we're just going

[08:13] to use as an example. So, for $4,500 a

[08:17] month income

[08:19] using the 503020 rule, $2,250

[08:24] is going to be spent toward your needs.

[08:27] $1,350

[08:28] is going to be spent toward your wants.

[08:31] $900 is going to go towards savings and

[08:33] debt reduction. Now, let's be honest.

[08:36] Can most people hit these numbers

[08:37] exactly? No. Housing costs are higher.

[08:41] Groceries are more expensive. insurance

[08:44] premiums continue to rise. And that's

[08:46] okay. This is a guideline. It's not a

[08:48] rigid rule. The goal is progress and

[08:50] improvement, not perfection.

[08:53] So, let's talk about building an

[08:54] emergency fund. Every budget should

[08:57] include savings, even if it's only $25

[08:59] per paycheck. Emergency funds prevent

[09:03] financial setbacks from becoming

[09:05] financial disasters. Start with $1,000,

[09:08] then work toward one month's of

[09:10] expenses. Eventually, aim for three to

[09:12] six months of living expenses. Automate

[09:15] your savings as much as possible.

[09:18] What you don't see, you're less likely

[09:20] to spend. This is very important, and

[09:22] this number should change depending on

[09:24] your lifestyle. You know, if you're

[09:26] young and you're not married, you don't

[09:27] have kids, $1,000 is probably enough.

[09:30] Once you're married and you have a

[09:32] spouse, you need to increase that

[09:34] probably in three months. If you've got

[09:36] children, you need, I would say, 9 to 12

[09:40] months of emergency savings account. And

[09:43] that's because your spouse and your

[09:45] children are completely well, not your

[09:48] spouse, but your children are completely

[09:49] dependent on you for their financial

[09:51] health and taking care of them. So, if

[09:54] something were to happen catastrophic,

[09:56] your spouse loses their job or you lose

[09:59] your job or both of you lose your job,

[10:03] that is catastrophic. And I'm telling

[10:04] you right now that people just aren't

[10:06] hiring. There's too much uncertainty.

[10:08] There's a lot of fear around AI. So

[10:11] people are going a year sometimes

[10:13] without a job. And do you have a year's

[10:16] worth of expenses in your emergency

[10:18] savings account to where your family

[10:21] will not go through financial hardship?

[10:24] I think you should. I think that should

[10:25] be your goal. It's definitely my new

[10:27] goal. So let's talk about creating a

[10:29] debt payoff plan. If you've got a

[10:32] budget, your budget should include a

[10:34] strategy.

[10:35] There's two methods that are very

[10:37] popular, and I've done an other video on

[10:39] this, so maybe the editor can link it

[10:41] below, but the two main ways to pay off

[10:44] debt are the debt snowball or the debt

[10:48] avalanche.

[10:50] So, the snowball is pay off the smallest

[10:53] balance first. The debt avalanche says

[10:56] pay off the highest interest rate first.

[10:59] What's the best method?

[11:01] Whichever one you pick and the one that

[11:03] you'll stick with. Consistency

[11:06] in small improvements beats perfection

[11:09] every time. Your debt will disappear and

[11:12] you'll redirect those payments towards

[11:14] savings and investing. And that's going

[11:16] to create momentum and accelerate your

[11:18] wealth building. The next thing you want

[11:20] to do is prepare for irregular expenses.

[11:22] Many budgets fail because people forget

[11:24] about non-monthly expenses. Things that

[11:28] can be included in this. Car repair,

[11:31] house maintenance. Y'all, one of my air

[11:34] conditioners just stopped working and

[11:35] the guy wants $8,000

[11:39] to replace that HVAC. I did not expect

[11:41] that. And that's a lot of money. Thank

[11:44] goodness I have an emergency savings

[11:46] account. So, we'll be able to address

[11:47] that and move forward because y'all, it

[11:50] is hot in the south and it is humid and

[11:52] you just cannot live without air

[11:54] conditioner. But that's a great example

[11:57] of unexpected house maintenance. You

[11:59] know, something that you should budget

[12:01] and plan for, but a lot of people don't,

[12:03] are holiday gifts. You know, Christmas

[12:05] comes on December 25th every year. It

[12:07] should not be a surprise. You know when

[12:09] it is. You should plan and you should

[12:12] budget and you should have a separate

[12:14] account for that money set aside. And

[12:16] when you start buying gifts, you should

[12:18] know how much you have to spend on each

[12:20] individual person. If you spent

[12:22] overspend on one person, you can shift

[12:24] and you know move money from another and

[12:26] balance it out. But you should not be

[12:28] putting holiday gifts or birthday gifts

[12:31] on a credit card. Another thing you need

[12:33] to be aware of that's irregular and not

[12:36] every month is back to school shopping.

[12:38] um that is hundreds of dollars now. Um

[12:42] it is just absolutely ridiculous.

[12:45] I know recently I was talking to

[12:46] somebody and they said that their child

[12:49] like ninth grade child is required to

[12:52] buy an Apple laptop. Now they didn't say

[12:55] here's the criteria of the laptop,

[12:58] here's what the laptop needs to be able

[13:00] to,

[13:02] you know, run. Um they said you have to

[13:05] buy an Apple laptop. And I think that is

[13:08] absolutely ridiculous. I don't use Apple

[13:11] products. Um I'm not a fan of them. I

[13:14] can do a separate video on that if you

[13:16] want to know my opinion and why I don't

[13:18] use Apple. But you know, you need a

[13:20] computer that will do what you need it

[13:23] to do. I don't need a highowered

[13:25] computer where I could do video graphics

[13:27] and things on it because my wonderful

[13:29] husband's my editor. So he has that

[13:31] computer because he does these videos

[13:33] for us. But, you know, honestly, for

[13:36] what I do, I just don't need that much

[13:39] power in my computer. So, I get a

[13:40] cheaper computer and save that money.

[13:42] Another thing you need to think about is

[13:44] annual insurance premiums, medical

[13:47] expenses. And, you know, a syncing fund,

[13:50] a seeking fund is simply money set aside

[13:53] each month for future unexpected

[13:55] expenses. You know, it's kind of the the

[13:57] old petty cash you hear about that

[14:00] businesses have. It's just extra money

[14:02] you set aside for unexpected irregular

[14:06] bills and expenses that come up. You

[14:08] know, if you typically spend $600 on

[14:11] Christmas gifts and it's 6 months away,

[14:13] put $100 per month in a separate account

[14:16] or in a cookie jar or however you want

[14:18] to save it. But that way, when Christmas

[14:21] gets here, you're not going to be

[14:23] stressed. You're going to be able to

[14:25] enjoy

[14:26] gift giving with your family and

[14:28] friends. It's not going to be as

[14:30] stressful. It's not going to be

[14:31] anxietyprone as it's not going to be the

[14:34] headache that it can be the the

[14:36] commercial just quagmire is what I'll

[14:39] call it. A budget helps you get rid of

[14:42] stress, get rid of anxiety, and it gives

[14:44] you freedom to enjoy your life. It's not

[14:47] restrictive. Automate everything that

[14:49] you can. Automation is one of the most

[14:51] powerful financial tools available. Set

[14:54] up automatic savings transfers,

[14:56] investment contributions, bill pay, debt

[15:00] payment, retirement contributions.

[15:02] Automation removes emotion from money

[15:05] management. It makes things easier and

[15:08] easier is likely to last. Easier is

[15:11] going to be easier for you to maintain

[15:14] and for you to continue and stick with.

[15:17] You know, when your budget is not a

[15:18] one-time project, you're going to review

[15:20] it once a month or at least once a

[15:22] quarter because it's a living document.

[15:25] Schedule one day once a month or once a

[15:28] quarter. That's going to be your month

[15:29] money date. So, you're going to review

[15:32] your income, your spending, your

[15:34] savings, your progress, your debt

[15:36] reduction, your financial goals. You're

[15:38] going to ask yourself what works, what

[15:40] doesn't, and adjust as you need to. The

[15:43] most successful budgeters are not

[15:45] perfect. They're adaptable. In

[15:47] conclusion, let's recap. A workable

[15:50] budget in 2026 starts with knowing your

[15:53] income, tracking your expenses, taking a

[15:56] snapshot as they are today, separating

[15:59] needs from wants, creating realistic

[16:01] spending categories,

[16:03] building savings, paying down debt,

[16:05] preparing for future expenses, and

[16:07] reviewing your progress regularly.

[16:10] Remember, a budget isn't about

[16:12] deprivation. It's about giving yourself

[16:14] options. is about reducing stress. It's

[16:16] about creating freedom. Most

[16:18] importantly, financial management is

[16:21] about building the life that you want.

[16:23] If you find this video helpful, please

[16:24] like, subscribe, and share with someone

[16:26] else that you think could use some

[16:28] control of their finances this year.

[16:31] Thank you for watching Women for Wealth,

[16:32] and we'll see you in the next video.

[16:34] Until next time, I wish you health and

[16:35] wealth.

[16:51] Hallelujah.