Hot take: that "pay yourself first" advice wrecked my budget for a year

Everyone says put savings first, no matter what. My brother Chris pushed it hard. I set up an auto transfer of $400 every payday. Problem was, my rent and utilities were due right after. I ended up short on rent twice and racked up $60 in late fees. The old method of budgeting expenses first then saving works better for me. Anyone else find that advice backfires with tight cash flow?

2 comments

2 Comments

riley_west2d agoMost Upvoted

Disagree completely. @kai_park, saving first worked fine for me once I timed my transfers better.

kai_park2d ago

$400 every payday is a lot when your rent comes due right after that.