How to make it to the end of the month: 5 steps
Five steps to reach the end of the month with money left: know your income and costs, split fixed from variable and share what remains over the days left.
Struggling to the end of the month is rarely down to a single expense. Usually it is that you don’t know how much you can spend today without putting the rest of the month at risk. These five steps sort it out without spreadsheets.
1. Put numbers on your income
Write down what really reaches your account each month: your take-home pay and any other regular income. If it changes from month to month, Finanzas para todos (Spain’s financial education programme) recommends working out a monthly average.
2. Split fixed from variable
- Essential fixed costs: rent or mortgage, loan repayments, utilities.
- Necessary variable costs: food, transport, clothes.
- Discretionary: leisure and treats, anything non-essential.
This is the split Finanzas para todos suggests. It shows you where there is room to cut in a tight month.
3. Look at your real spending for two or three months
The same body advises tracking it for that long, so your budget looks like your life rather than what you wish you spent. This is where the small leaks you hadn’t noticed show up.
4. Turn what’s left into a daily number
Once the fixed costs are set aside, what remains until month end is shared over the days left. An example with round numbers:
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Left to spend this month | €300 |
| Days remaining | 15 |
| You can spend today | €20 |
If you spend €35 today, tomorrow’s share drops. If you spend €10, it rises. The number corrects itself.
5. Check the number every day
A budget you only look at on the last day of the month arrives too late. One number in the morning tells you whether you can afford a coffee out or whether today is a meal-at-home day.
If you still don’t make it
If the problem runs deeper, because your fixed costs exceed your income, adjusting day to day isn’t enough. Review fixed costs and subscriptions first, and consider talking to an adviser or your bank.
Pastizal’s “You can spend today” shares what’s left of the month over the days remaining and gives you one clear number each morning, also on a home-screen widget. No bank connection needed.