Quick Summary
A guide to financial minimalism - covering simplified budgeting, reduced accounts, intentional spending, and focusing finances on what truly matters.
Most budgets fail because they’re too complicated. Thirty categories, daily logging, constant guilt about a $4 coffee. A simpler system - one that takes 15 minutes a month - tends to actually stick.
Here’s how a minimalist budget works with just five categories and a single spreadsheet.
The 5-Category Budget
Everything falls into one of five buckets. That’s it.
| Category | What’s Included | Typical % of Income |
|---|---|---|
| Housing | Rent/mortgage, utilities, insurance, maintenance | 25 - 35% |
| Food | Groceries, dining out, coffee, delivery | 10 - 15% |
| Transport | Car payment, gas, insurance, transit, parking | 10 - 15% |
| Savings | Emergency fund, retirement, investments, goals | 15 - 25% |
| Everything Else | Clothing, entertainment, subscriptions, gifts, personal | 15 - 25% |
Five lines. No subcategories. No agonizing over whether a smoothie is “food” or “entertainment.”
The Spreadsheet Setup
A single tab in Google Sheets handles the entire budget:
| Category | Monthly Target | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Housing | $1,500 | $1,500 | $1,500 | $1,500 | $1,500 |
| Food | $500 | $480 | $530 | $460 | $510 |
| Transport | $400 | $380 | $410 | $395 | $420 |
| Savings | $800 | $800 | $800 | $800 | $800 |
| Everything Else | $600 | $550 | $620 | $580 | $640 |
| Total | $3,800 | $3,710 | $3,860 | $3,735 | $3,870 |
| Income | $4,200 | $4,200 | $4,200 | $4,200 | $4,200 |
| Surplus/Deficit | $400 | $490 | $340 | $465 | $330 |
One row per category. One column per month. A =SUM() at the bottom. Done.
How to Fill It In
The minimalist approach to tracking: check bank and credit card statements once a month. Group transactions into the five categories. Enter the totals. That’s the entire process.
Monthly check-in (15 minutes):
- Open bank/credit card statements
- Scan transactions - mentally sort into the five buckets
- Enter each category total in the spreadsheet
- Check if any category is way off target
- Move on with your life
No daily logging. No receipt scanning. No categorizing every transaction individually.
Why Five Categories Work
A budget with 30 categories gives the illusion of control. A budget with 5 categories gives actual clarity.
The point of budgeting isn’t precision - it’s awareness. Knowing that food spending crept up $50 this month is useful. Knowing exactly how much went to artisanal cheese versus regular cheese is not.
Five categories are enough to spot problems:
- Housing jumping? Something changed with rent or utilities.
- Food spiking? Dining out likely increased.
- “Everything Else” growing? Time for a quick subscription audit.
The One Number That Matters
If five categories still feels like too much, track one number: savings rate.
Savings Rate = Amount Saved / IncomeIf that percentage is where it needs to be, the rest is working. A growing net worth month over month confirms the system is doing its job.
The Monthly Expense Tracker offers simple entry with minimal categories - a good fit for this approach. For those who want targets alongside tracking, the Monthly Budget Template adds planned vs. actual comparison.
Getting Started
| Step | Action | Time |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Open a new Google Sheet | 2 min |
| 2 | Create the 5-category table above | 5 min |
| 3 | Fill in targets based on last month’s spending | 10 min |
| 4 | Set a monthly calendar reminder to update | 1 min |
Total setup: under 20 minutes. Monthly maintenance: 15 minutes. That’s the whole system.
Simpler systems last longer. A five-category budget in a single spreadsheet tab is easy to start, easy to maintain, and hard to abandon.
Related
- Net Worth Tracker - One number that matters
- Monthly Expense Tracker - Simple tracking
- Pay Yourself First Budgeting Method
- Budget Burnout: Signs You Need to Simplify