I think budgeting and practical finances should be taught at multiple stages throughout a student’s life. I thought I knew the general idea but didn’t appreciate how much neglecting it would set me back.
What is your process for budgeting? As a starting point this article lists a few methods.
I use zero based budgeting where every dollar is assigned a purpose. I don’t end up sticking exactly to the plan, but I do keep a spreadsheet which lists my current balances and all expected expenses, so I can see my future balance and avoid going in the red. A couple times a month I cross off expenses which have been paid and update the balance. This is especially helpful to me because a big portion of my income is irregular month to month.
Husband has irregular income. Like you I do a spreadsheet with the dollars all allocated for my income plus what he tells me he expects on average.
Then each month I compare to actual results, and use that information to get a better estimate for the next year.
The black hole is credit card repayment because it was spent on something but goes in as debt repayment but we are working on that.
ETA: also do forecasting bank balance by day in months when things are tight. We do have savings but most of it in retirement accounts.