I used to be one of them. When my salary arrived, the first thing I'd do was spend everything; by the end of the month, I'd wonder why I had no money left. The way to break this vicious cycle was to find a simple but disciplined method.

My first step was to send a predetermined percentage of my salary directly to my investment account on payday. Instead of saving what's left after spending, spend what's left after saving. I'd read this everywhere in finance blogs, podcasts, and articles. But I always felt something was missing: everyone was giving specific percentages (50/30/20, 60/40/10, 50/35/15...) when these ratios don't work for everyone.

That's when I realized the only solution everyone would accept was a personalized budgeting system tailored to their situation. It was time to stop reading different articles and face my own financial reality.

Budgeting isn't the complicated process people think it is. It's simple personal accounting.

So how do you get started? The only thing to watch for here is finding a tool you're comfortable with: writing in a notebook by hand, using an Excel file, a mobile app, and many others. I preferred a mobile app; thanks to receipt scanning and notification reminder features, recording expenses became much easier. Whatever technical tool you choose, what matters is sticking with it consistently.

To take control of your financial life, you need to divide your budget into three main categories. Within each category, you can create subcategories based on your own lifestyle.

This category includes expenses you can't avoid: bills, rent, grocery shopping, healthcare costs. These are things genuinely necessary to maintain your life.

Hobby supplies, trendy clothes, eating out (if you could prepare more cheaply at home), entertainment expenses. Unlike needs, you can reduce, postpone, or replace these expenses with cheaper alternatives.

Stocks, bonds, bills, foreign exchange, commodities, cryptocurrency, art, real estate... Real assets you use to grow your money and build wealth.

If you try to allocate your entire salary to investments right away, you'll face financial difficulty by month's end. Like everything else, finance also requires balance and patience.

For the first 3-6 months, simply record the money you spend. Analyze your expenses. What are your real needs? How much are your wants? During this period, don't make major changes yet; just collect data.

After analyzing your data, redirect some of the average amount you spend on wants to investments. Don't do this suddenly; increase gradually. This way, you'll adapt more easily to budgeting and saving. This makes it easier to keep the process going.

Life is never predictable. Heating bills can spike in winter months, you might need to renovate your home, your car might have a tax due date. No two months will be the same.

Creating an emergency fund removes the anxiety of these uncertainties. Based on my current income level, I'm aiming to build a fund that can cover 6 months of my needs. Depending on your situation, this period can vary. What matters is choosing a timeframe that suits you.

If you have an active interest-bearing loan debt, paying off that debt should be your first priority. Because this debt hampers your investments' compound returns and pulls you back. Pay off that debt quickly, then you can save more comfortably.

Now I'm getting to the most important part of this article:

If you don't examine your budget regularly, if you don't compare it with previous months, what you're doing won't be worthwhile. Keeping records isn't enough. You need to analyze.

At the end of each month (or even every two weeks), give yourself some time. Compare last month to this month. Where did you spend unexpectedly? In which category did you save? This information gives you real control over the months ahead.

The question "Is my investment growing over time?" is less important than asking "How well did I plan my expenses this month?" Because money for investments can only come from a controlled budget.

You don't need to be 100% perfect to set up a budgeting system. Just start. You'll make mistakes and correct them. By month's end, you'll be surprised where all that money went. This is normal. What matters is continuing.

Because someone who uses, analyzes, and improves their budget will find themselves in a completely different financial position six months from now.

What are you waiting for? Start budgeting today!