Budgeting to reach targets

Hi,

in this crazy world, where we are brainwashed to consume, and not to build, where this brings sadness and depression (both mental and financial), some manage to overcome this trend and build. We, at home, try to consume only what we need. Buy only the food we like and need, but we take care on the quality of food. Also, we take care of the quality of clothing. It has to be made out of cotton, especially the one that touches our skin. Here we look for deals. Also, to not waste too much time, we automated the searches, and get only the results required in.

We are not living minimalistic, which is a trend, as we try to automate a lot of things and use resources efficient. Like We have different type of clothing, which we try to wash not that often, even if I drop most to the laundry after each wear. This we achieved by having enough clothes to fill a washing machine. If we had only one pair, to wash it daily would be a nightmare, mostly from time cost, beside the energy cost invested. Minimalism needs to make sense, else it adds up where you don't want to.
Maybe I can say, that I'm thriving a minimalistic life towards tasks and work that use time. Time is precious, don't waste it.

Our aim, beside financial freedom, is to build generational wealth and to learn our kid how to handle money. The first thing for this, is to have an overview on expenses and income. We track everything that we spend money on, and also everything what comes into our pockets. It is magic, as we can really see, what impact our purchases have. Since we do this, we changed our consumption behaviour. We dine less out, but we buy quality food, that is bio and also easy to prepare, without too much effort. Even if a dish cooks longer, the preparation time shall be a short one. Beside the tracking, we set targets, of what we want to achieve. Here comes the budget in play, where we set small steps for investment, savings and paying debt, rent and all others. We move the money for each month, when we get paid, so that first thing we invest, then spend. If there is no money on spending let in a month, we don't buy anything else. With this, we managed to build a good life, and a nice perspective for the future.

To summarize:

• don't follow trends and buy frenetically
• avoid things that eat time and counter them
• track your expenses and income
• have financial targets
• have a budget, where you pay your targets first
• don't spend what you don't have

How about you? How do you do it?