Current Events > Am I weird for having this approach to my budgeting?

(+) Yeah! (+)

I try to keep myself to a set amount of spending each month. And I can be pretty stingy about sticking to that budget, even though I have a healthy cushion. I'm not about to go broke if I overshoot my self-imposed limit by a hundred bucks or so, but it's still something that causes me anxiety and tension. If a sudden, unexpected expense of like, $70 were to occur, I'd try to find ways to reduce my other spending that month by that amount.

But if I get hit for like $1200 out of the blue I'm just writing that month off and not trying to fill that gap. No hand wringing, just trying to keep to my original budget like that didn't happen.

When it comes to high amounts it almost always boils down to something that needs to be done. My cat was bleeding pretty bad last year after a fight and I had to take him to a vet. I lost $1,000 but it was worth it. When I also had to get all new tires last year I was like eh whatever. When I spent an extra $15 on lunch last week I told myself I'm skipping lunch for the next 3 days.

That seems pretty normal. You're basically saving a set amount of money every month and doing your best to stick to it, outside of extreme emergencies.

Don't stress about it though. It shouldn't be causing you anxiety if you have a healthy cushion.