If you're having trouble with abstract money discipline. Consider using cash.

There's an envelope of methodology, you take your income, you put it in different envelopes for different budget items. When the envelope is empty you can't spend anymore.

Don't use credit cards, don't use debt, don't use debit cards, make sure all the money you spend is cash physical money that has to leave your hands.

The envelope methodology can be really helpful for people, cuz they can see how much money is left in the envelope, and they know when they need to stop. It's very physical.

This may or may not be relevant to you, but I found I had a much better time with a budget when I "honestly" budgeted for my fun stuff, instead of trying to say it was all completely unnecessary and cutting it out.

I had somehow gotten an idea that if you have to track money, you gotta be "disciplined" and cut ALL the fun stuff away so you live like a monk. So, inevitably, I'd get stressed, I'd do something fun to cope with the stress, and then I'd fall into a spiral of shame and blame.

When I was older, I learned that if I looked at my "natural" spending habits honestly...for example, I like to buy books, music, and tea, so when I splurge it's usually in one of those areas...and actually set aside some budget room for those, I'm less likely to go "over" my budget, and thus less likely to fall into a spiral of guilt and shame that makes me throw the entire budget out the window later on.

First you need to address your mental health

Hello,

Feel free to post to !personalfinance@lemmy.ml if you prefer

If your system becomes too vibrating then it's not the right system for you. Try something that requires less upkeep and less detail