Guides

How to keep a family budget without spreadsheets

Updated: 8 October 2026

Most people don’t need complicated spreadsheets. It’s enough to know three things: how much comes in, how much is certain to go out, and how much is left for the rest of the month.

1. Start with what comes in

Salary, pension, money sent from abroad. Write down the amount and the day it arrives. That’s your limit for the month.

2. Take off the bills you know are coming

Rent or the mortgage payment, electricity, water, internet, phone. Even when the amount changes a little, you know roughly what it is. Take them off at the start of the month, as if they were already paid.

3. Don’t forget the ones that come once a year

Car insurance, kolaudimi (the roadworthiness inspection), the annual car tax, property tax. These are the ones that wreck a month when they arrive. Split them across the months: if together they cost 24,000 lek a year, set aside 2,000 lek every month.

4. Write down everyday spending

Food, coffee, fuel, transport. You don’t need to be perfect: even if you write down most of it, at the end of the month you can see clearly where the money went.

5. Be careful with cash

When you take money out of a cash machine, it hasn’t been spent yet: it has only moved from the bank to your wallet. It becomes spending when you use it. At the end of the month, count how much cash you have left: the difference is what you spent without writing it down.

6. Look at the month, not the day

One expensive day means nothing. What matters is whether you have money left at the end of the month, and whether that figure grows from month to month.