385: My Realistic Monthly Budgeting Routine (Step-by-Step Breakdown)
The Clever Girls Know Podcast With Bola Sokunbi
Bola Sokunbi
4.8 • 931 Ratings
🗓️ 14 October 2025
⏱️ 15 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Tired of complicated budgeting systems that never stick? On this podcast eisode, I'm sharing my exact monthly budgeting routine; from reviewing last month's numbers to planning for irregular expenses and closing out the month with reflection.
This is a realistic, flexible approach to budgeting that actually works. Whether you're just getting started or want to refresh your process, these steps will help you stay consistent without feeling overwhelmed.
What you'll learn:
- How I start with a financial reflection, not shame
- My method for planning income (even with variable pay!)
- Why I budget for my goals first before any expenses
- How I build a realistic, values-aligned spending plan
- The importance of planning for irregular expenses
- Why I track my budget weekly (not daily!)
- How I close out each month to stay consistent
This budgeting routine is simple, sustainable, and designed to help you make real financial progress. No perfect templates. Just a system that works.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hello everyone and welcome to the Clever Girls No podcast. This is Bola Shokombi. I'm the founder and CEO of |
| 0:08.8 | Clever Girl Finance. The Clever Girls No podcast is a podcast for women offering a space for conversations |
| 0:14.9 | around personal finance, business, life, and living. I'd love for you to subscribe to this podcast, |
| 0:21.3 | and you can do that everywhere you listen to your podcast episodes. |
| 0:24.6 | And if you love what you're listening to, |
| 0:26.7 | be sure to leave a review so that other amazing women just like you can find this podcast too. |
| 0:31.8 | Also, don't forget to stop by Clevergirlfinance.com forward slash subscribe |
| 0:36.4 | and sign up for our weekly newsletter. |
| 0:39.4 | It's a great way to get motivation and accountability sent straight to your inbox as you work |
| 0:44.0 | on achieving your financial goals. We also have over 30 plus completely free courses to help you |
| 0:49.8 | on your financial journey. And if you haven't already, check out our YouTube channel. Just search |
| 0:55.3 | Clever Girl Finance on YouTube. You can also find us on Instagram at Clever Girl Finance. |
| 1:01.5 | Okay, let's get into today's episode. So today I'm taking you through my monthly budget |
| 1:08.0 | routine from start to finish, basically from the first number I write down to |
| 1:11.7 | me closing out my month. And as you may already know, when it comes to budgeting and my personal |
| 1:16.6 | finances in general, I don't like complexity. I don't like things to be confusing or overly |
| 1:22.2 | complex. I like simplicity. And so I need my budget to be realistic and flexible and I'm going to be sharing |
| 1:28.7 | with you exactly the way I approach my budgeting each month. And hopefully you can find that |
| 1:34.2 | useful and implementing into your budget approach as well. So let's get into my monthly budgeting routine. |
| 1:40.8 | Step one, I always review last month's numbers. Before I look ahead, I always look back to see |
| 1:47.5 | how things went with the budget I had for the previous month. I do a quick, honest review of my |
| 1:52.7 | budget and I try not to guilt myself because there's no point in crying over what didn't work out. |
... |
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