Your first budget, built around frum life

A budget is a plan for next month's money, written before the month begins. It doesn't have to be elaborate. It has to be honest about what comes in, complete about what goes out, and short enough that you'll look at it again.

This guide builds one from scratch for a single person starting out, with a worked example you can copy. The same method works for a couple or a family; only the lines change.

Step 1: Start from take-home pay

Your salary is not your budget. Taxes, health insurance and retirement contributions come out before you see a dollar. Open your last two pay stubs and find the net pay, the deposit into your account. If you're paid every two weeks, multiply one paycheck by 26 and divide by 12 to get a true monthly figure; two months a year you'll get a third paycheck.

Add any other regular income: tutoring, a side job, a stipend. Leave out gifts and one-off money; when those arrive, decide what to do with them on the spot (savings is a good default).

In our example, Dovid takes home $1,940 every two weeks. $1,940 × 26 ÷ 12 = $4,203 a month. We'll round to $4,200.

Step 2: List every cost, including the frum ones

Go through the last two or three months of bank and card statements and sort every charge. Most people find three or four categories they never counted. Generic budgeting templates usually miss these:

• Maaser and other tzedakah
• Shabbos: your share of meals, wine, flowers or a gift for hosts
• Yom Tov: food, clothing, travel home, Pesach costs
• Simchas: wedding and bar mitzvah gifts, travel, an outfit
• Dating: rides, drinks, lobby fees, the occasional dinner
• Shul dues, shiurim, seforim
• Subscriptions you forgot about

Irregular costs are the ones that break budgets. Take the yearly total and divide by 12. If you expect six weddings this year at about $150 each in gifts and travel, that's $900 a year, or $75 a month set aside, rather than a $300 surprise in a busy month.

Step 3: Give every dollar a job

The method that works for most people is called zero-based budgeting: income minus every planned category equals zero. "Zero" doesn't mean you spend everything. Savings is a category, so every dollar is assigned somewhere, including to your future.

Put the categories in this order, because this is the order in which they get protected when money is short:

1. Maaser. Ask your rav whether to calculate it on gross or net income; the maaser guide explains the difference.
2. Savings. Emergency fund first, then goals.
3. Fixed bills. Rent, phone, insurance, loan payments.
4. Variable needs. Groceries, transport, Shabbos.
5. Everything else. Eating out, clothes, entertainment.

Dovid's budget

Dovid is 24, single, shares an apartment, and his rav told him to give maaser on take-home pay.

Every line is an example, not a target. Rent in Brooklyn, Lakewood, Baltimore and Los Angeles differs by hundreds of dollars, and your numbers should come from your statements.

Budget plannerEnter your take-home pay and each category, and see what's left over or what's short.

A rule of thumb, if you want one

If a blank page is hard, start from proportions and adjust. A common starting split is roughly half of take-home for needs, 10% for maaser, 20% for savings and the rest for wants. Dovid's plan above is close: about 56% needs, 10% maaser, 14% savings and 20% wants. A plan where needs take 70% isn't wrong; it tells you housing is the lever, and that a raise or a roommate would change more than skipping coffee.

Step 4: Automate the top of the list

Set transfers for the day after payday: maaser to a separate account, savings to a high-yield savings account, retirement to your Roth IRA or workplace plan. What's left in checking is what you can spend. You no longer have to remember to save; you have to remember not to transfer it back.

Savings that start small still add up. $100 a month is $1,200 a year. At $400 a month, Dovid has a $4,800 cushion after a year, before any interest.

Step 5: Check it after one month, then once a month

The first budget is always wrong. That's expected. After 30 days, compare plan to actual for every line. Where you overspent, decide whether the plan was unrealistic (raise it and cut something else) or the spending was (keep the line and watch it). Ten minutes on a Sunday each month is enough once it settles.

Before Pesach and before the Yamim Noraim, look ahead. Those months cost more for nearly everyone, and the averaged Yom Tov line only works if the money has actually been building up.

Common mistakes

• Budgeting from gross salary. It feels like a 25% raise until the rent is due.
• Leaving out irregular costs. Car registration, a new suit, flights home. Average them into a monthly line.
• No room for anything enjoyable. A budget with no personal spending line gets abandoned by week three.
• Treating a credit card as income. If the statement isn't paid in full each month, the budget is not balanced. Our credit guide covers how card interest adds up.

What to do next

1. Calculate your monthly take-home from your pay stubs.
2. Sort two months of statements into categories, including the frum ones above.
3. Build the plan in the Budget planner or a spreadsheet, maaser and savings first.
4. Set up the automatic transfers.
5. Once you have one month of expenses saved, read the emergency fund guide.

Updated November 2026. The budget in this guide is an illustration. It is general education, not financial advice. Ask your rav about maaser, and a qualified professional about your own situation.