How to make a spending plan: needs, wants, fun money

Sam

Now I know where the money went. I want a plan that stops the shortfall. But I'm not living on buckwheat, and neither is my family.

Alex Tutor

Nobody should. A spending plan isn't a diet: it decides in advance where each hryvnia goes, including the ones for fun. Start with the kind column in Sam's totals.

Alex Tutor

Dataset · 18 rows

Sam's pay cycle by category

5 September to 4 October 2026, 62,858 UAH in total. Income: 31,000 + 25,000 = 56,000 UAH.

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Columns
category: The bank's category
kind: essential or flexible
total_uah: Total for the cycle, UAH

Data

category	kind	total_uah
rent	essential	16000
utilities	essential	3350
phone_internet	essential	640
kindergarten	essential	4500
groceries	essential	12425

Show 13 more rows

public_transport	essential	365
pharmacy	essential	1025
installments	essential	3150
card_interest	essential	1480
coffee	flexible	1395
food_delivery	flexible	4205
taxi	flexible	2195
subscriptions	flexible	1283
clothes	flexible	2300
gifts	flexible	1200
eating_out	flexible	4345
donations	flexible	1000
cash	flexible	2000

Essentials are what you can't skip for a month without harm: rent, utilities, phone, kindergarten, groceries, transport, pharmacy, debt payments. Flexible spending is everything you could change starting next month.

You

Groceries are essential, but 12,425 isn't a fixed number, is it?

Alex Tutor

Right. Food is essential; how much and where you buy it isn't. The label says what can't drop to zero, not how big it has to be.

Sam

And the installments? The washing machine and the laptop are already bought.

Alex Tutor

That's why they're essential: a missed payment brings fees and a bad credit record. But they end. The washing machine has four payments left, the laptop six.

Alex Tutor

Question 1

Match each of Sam's categories with the reason it sits where it does in the plan.

Pick an answer for each row. Choosing an answer that is already used moves it to this row.

Rent
Choose an answer
Installments
Choose an answer
Groceries
Choose an answer
Food delivery
Choose an answer
Subscriptions
Choose an answer

Alex Tutor

Now compare each part with income, 56,000 UAH. Rent alone is 16,000 / 56,000 = 28.57%.

Sam

I'd guess essentials are about half. The rest is where the money leaks.

You

The debt payments count as essentials too: 3,150 of installments plus 1,480 of card interest.

Alex Tutor

4,630 a month, yes. Now add up every essential line and check Sam's guess.

Alex Tutor

Question 2

Add up every essential category in Sam's totals. What share of the 56,000 UAH income do essentials take? Round to two decimals.

Your answer

Units: % (e.g. 58.25)

You

76.67%, not half. And flexible is 19,923, another 35.58%. Together that's 112.25% of income.

Alex Tutor

That's the whole story in one line: 42,935 + 19,923 = 62,858, which is 6,858 more than 56,000. The 300 left from the previous cycle softened it to the 6,558 we saw.

Sam

So which part do we squeeze?

Alex Tutor

Say the essentials stay as they are for now. How far would flexible spending have to fall for the cycle to cost no more than the income?

Alex Tutor

Question 3

Essentials stay at 42,935 UAH. By how much must flexible spending (19,923 UAH) fall so that the cycle costs no more than the 56,000 UAH income?

Your answer

Units: UAH

Sam

6,858 out of 19,923. That's a third of everything flexible.

Alex Tutor

A third, 34.4%, not all of it. Flexible spending can change by next payday; rent can't. That's why a plan moves money from flexible first.

Inside flexible, start with what Sam values least per hryvnia. Delivery on an exhausting Tuesday may be worth it; a taxi when the metro was fine, maybe not. Sam decides, not a rule.

You

So the essentials stay untouched?

Alex Tutor

No, they're just slower. The card interest goes once the card is paid off, the installments end, groceries have room. That's months of work, not one payday.

Alex Tutor

Question 4

What is the best first move to close Sam's gap?

Choose one answerHalve the grocery spending from next paydayPause the installments until the credit card is clearCut every flexible category to zero until the card is paid offMove money out of the flexible spending Sam values least, such as some taxis and delivery orders, and keep fun money

You

And saving? After all this, nothing is left to save.

Alex Tutor

That's why saving goes first, not last. Pay yourself first: on payday, move a fixed sum to a separate account before any spending. Even 1,000. What's left at the end of a month is usually nothing.

A popular rule of thumb splits income 50/30/20: essentials, flexible, saving. Sam's family is at 77/36 and minus 12. The split is a reference point, not a verdict: with rent and a small child, 50% may be out of reach for a while.

Sam

So we cut all the fun until the card is clear?

Alex Tutor

That plan tends to last about as long as your spreadsheet did. Cut everything, and the first bad week ends in a big order and guilt. Keep fun money for each adult: spent on anything, no questions asked.

Alex Tutor

Question 5

True or false: a good spending plan leaves no money for fun until every debt is paid off.

TrueFalse

Sam

Give me one line for the fridge: how much for essentials, how much saved, how much for everything else.

You

Essentials at their September level, a small saving on payday, and flexible gets what's left.

Alex Tutor

Check that the three parts add up to exactly 56,000, and name the fun money inside flexible, so it's planned rather than stolen.

The 6,558 already on the card is a debt question, and we'll get to it. For now, write Sam's line.

Alex Tutor

Question 6Short answer · AI-checked task

Write Sam's monthly plan in one or two lines: amounts for essentials, saving and flexible spending (including fun money) that add up to the 56,000 UAH income. Add one sentence on where the flexible cut comes from.

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Alex Tutor

Next time we look inside flexible for the leaks that hide best: subscriptions and small payments.

Alex Tutor

That’s the lesson. You answered every task — nicely done.

Next lesson: Subscriptions and small payments: the leaks