Are you budgeting at all? Any tricks that make your life easier?

Be it via Excel, YNAB, Actual or, well, actual envelopes. Do you budget your money throughout the month? How was it before?

I feel that without budgeting, I was always insecure on what I could spend and if I did spend something, it was too much :D It was like driving blindfolded. And unplanned expenses were always a bummer because the money was either not there or we had to make cuts here and there.

Back then, I started with an excel file that had some categories and that way, I kinda kept an overview. Back then, I didn't get YNAB at all. But then I decided to use it for a few months and boy, there was more money in the bank than ever before - all mapped out, but it was there. But one would need to keep in mind that the money is actually "booked" for something else. That took some time to get used to. When YNAB hiked its prices after...3-4 years of usage, I took it, but I was always on the hunt for a new tool that would take the place. Ever since Actual got opensource'd, I always gave it a spin, the availability of goals (templates) sold it for me :) I could recreate my YNAB budget habits and I was all set.

Tell us, what's your budgeting story? :)