How To Manage Money Without a Budget

You may be set on being in the roofing industry for the rest of your life or it may be simply a stepping stone towards the next opportunity. Either way you have an incredible opportunity to set up a solid foundation for your future and build a legacy for your family.

Sales or owning a business brings it's own set of challenges, especially in the early years, when income can vary quite a bit.

Too often people in sales let themselves fall into these traps:

• Think that a solid financial plan isn't possible because income varies month to month
• Don't plan or manage their money well and dig themselves in a hole during slow seasons
• Have a great year and nothing in the bank to show for it

It can be easy to develop these limiting beliefs but with a little organization and effort you can make a huge improvement. If you wanted certainty then you probably wouldn't have chosen sales as your career choice.

You're probably the type that when presented with a challenge you don't ask yourself "if" you can do it but rather "how".

So let's get into that...

What is income allocation

If you're the type that has struggled in the past with a hard set budget then income allocation might be a good fit for you.

The concept is similar to nutrition planning when working towards fitness goals. In that context the overall calorie target for the day is established and then the macro-nutrients (protein, carbohydrates, fat) are allotted in the proper proportions to reach the desired mix.

Income allocation revolves around how much of your income you will decide to portion out for certain areas of your life. To keep things simple our "macro-financials" will be the needs, wants, and savings.

Each time you receive a paycheck you'll portion out that income to each category, preferably in separate bank accounts, based on your plan.

I'm not saying budgets are bad by any means. In fact, I highly encourage strategy stacking to increase your success rate. Sometimes it can feel overwhelming trying to get started with organizing every single category of your spending and then setting limits for each one which is why people can get burned out or give up entirely.

We want something simple that can make life easier instead of harder. A set of rules that simple, easy to follow and gives defined boundaries with a bit of flexibility.

Starter Strategy: 50/30/20

One of the most well known places to start is allocating your income based on the 50/30/20 method. It's a great starting point regardless of money management skill level. Keeping it simple in the beginning is key to consistency. The order is as follows:

• 50% Needs
• 30% Wants
• 20% Save

What this means is that it doesn't matter if you earn a paycheck for $1,000 or $10,000. You're going to portion out the funds based on the same percentages every time.

Worried about those slow pay periods when sales aren't so hot? Make sure to have your emergency fund in place to smooth out those bumpy pay cycles if need be when the bills come due.

Two actions you need to take today to help stick to this strategy.

• Open up 3 bank accounts
• Label each one either "Needs", "Wants", and "Savings"

When all your money flows in and out of a single bank account, chaos often takes over. It quickly becomes a financial junk drawer where everything gets tangled together—expenses, savings, and spending all mixed up.

Instead, take control by designating one account as your financial hub. This is where your paycheck lands, acting as the central command for transferring money to your other accounts with clear, focused purposes.

Keep it organized, and your finances will thank you!

Start Small

If your goal is to do 100 pushups a day, diving straight in after years of no pushups might not be the smartest move. It’s like sprinting a marathon on day one—you’re setting yourself up for burnout, fatigue, and frustration.

Instead, start small. Just 1 or 10 pushups a day can lay the foundation for habit-building and consistency. Once you’ve nailed that rhythm, you can level up week after week, making real, sustainable progress. It’s not about starting big; it’s about starting smart and getting the repetitions in.

Same thing goes for finances. You can't save 20% of your income right now because things are just way too tight? Don't worry, that red flag is a GOOD SIGN. It means you're able to dig further and pin point what's causing that so you can work on it.

Know Your Living Expenses

The most important thing to figure out is your basic expenses in the needs category. You need to know what those regularly occurring expenses are so you can plan everything else around them.

We're talking the bare essentials like housing, food, auto, and bills. Going through the past few months worth of bank statements is a rough exercise but it can be eye opening.

It's easy to feel like we spend one way and then realize that the numbers tell a different story. Your bank might already be set up with some cool visualization features so you can see all of your spending trends in one spot.

Figure out what that total amount would be for an entire year and ask yourself the following; based on your sales forecast, what percentage of your expected income would your cost of living actually be?

If you have living expenses of $45,000 and you expect to make a net income of $100,000 then your in the clear with 50% and have a little wiggle room if needed.

On the other hand, if you have to live off of $45,000 but only expect $85,000 of take home pay then you'll have to make a few temporary changes to get by. You can either earn more, spend less, or pay off debt to free up to improve your situation. All of which are doable!

The whole point is that you want to have everything in balance; the living expenses are lean and in control, you're able to spend your hard earned money on the things that give you satisfaction, all the while having a set amount that is being put towards building your future.

Maybe you can't do 20% in savings right now but you can do 10% or 5%. That's okay because these are "targets". Ultimately you'll want to get there but you need to start where it makes sense.

Heck, start with 1% if you absolutely have to, something is better than nothing. Same thing goes for the wants category. Start low and bump it up little by little over time until you reach your target percentage.

This is especially the case if lifestyle and debt are a bit out of control. Sacrifice might be necessary and the wants and savings may have to wait.

However dire the situation might seem I would encourage to always dedicate a percentage to each category to maintain morale while you get through rough patches or dig yourself out of a hole.

Make it so small at first that it would be IMPOSSIBLE for you not to do it.

Challenge Yourself

Now play around with the idea of flipping this concept upside down and mixing up the portions and categories. Instead of 20% to savings try using that for your wants. Instead of 30% in wants try seeing if you can live off of that amount instead for your needs.

Add some different categories as you get more comfortable and competent in managing your money.

Here's my allocation mix that has worked the best for me:

65% Invest
20% Living Needs
10% Tithe
5% Blowoff

I've done my best to cut my living expenses to be as lean as possible and dedicate a majority of my income towards investing in assets that will provide me a consistent passive income. The "blow off" money is spending every dollar with zero regrets in that account on whatever the heck it is I want. It's the smallest percentage to reduce any risk of harm to my financial situation.

Imagine having the ability to set aside 50% of your income for your future, IT'S POSSIBLE!

What if you were able to do this year after year after year?

Think about what you could do with that financial firepower.

Stay aware of your cashflow from month to month. Use a written planner, such as the performance planner plus, or a spreadsheet to track your activity. The more you can maintain awareness the easier it will be to manage yourself on the day to day decisions.

Try this out and see how it works for you. Write me back with your results and any questions you have.