Budgeting Acronyms to Make Saving Money a Lot Simpler

Congratulations for surviving 2020! We’re not psychics, but we’re guessing that one of your resolutions is to start budgeting and saving money. Now those are resolutions worth keeping. But in order to see a resolution through the end, it helps to have some budgeting acronyms to help remind you of your cause. Also, they’re just fun to memorize!

Let these simple acronyms serve as roadmaps to help you better budget and save your money for 2021. Feel free to share these to everyone you know.

8 Simple Budgeting Acronyms to Remember

Y.O.D.O. (You Only Die Once)

Budgeting Acronyms - YODO

Because YOLO is so last decade and it also doesn’t make sense. Think about it: how many times do you wake up every morning and live? If you’re reading this, the answer should be “plenty of times.” Now how many times do you not wake up? That’s right, you only die once. Hopefully, realizing your mortality will also help you realize the value of saving money.

It’s time to abandon the YOLO mindset and start adapting the YODO mindset. Have you earned enough money to have a comfortable retirement years later? Do you have insurance or even a memorial plan? If your answer is no, then you really need to start saving and budgeting as early as now. Add YODO to your list of budgeting acronyms if it helps you keep track.

A.B.C. (Allocate, Budget, Cut)

Budgeting Acronyms - ABC

Budgeting is as easy as ABC, literally. If you’re having a hard time remembering how to budget, try memorizing one of the easiest-to-remember budgeting acronyms out there, the A.B.C. It contains three important steps^[1] in making a sustainable budget plan.

Allocate - List down all your expenses and identify the ones that are important. From there, allocate the right amount of money and save the rest.
Budget - Maintain a daily budget and track your expenses everyday to monitor your progress and the amount you’re currently saving.
Cut - When the savings are still too low, it’s time to cut down expenses completely. Eliminate items that are not important to your day-to-day survival.

Baby Y.O.D.A. (Baby, You Overspent Decades Ago)

Budgeting Acronyms - Baby YODA

If you ever need a reminder why you need to save, just remember Baby YODA. Aside from being an adorable character from Star Wars, Baby YODA also serves as a poignant reminder of your lavish past. Are you bound to repeat the same mistakes you made in the past decade? It’s time to grow past fulfilling your immediate wants. Focus on your needs, you should.

Recognize the fact that you’re not getting any younger and that you need to start building your future as early as now. When you’re faced with yet another temptation to spend, simply evoke the name of Baby YODA. Hopefully, having your present self confront your past will help motivate yourself to stay within your budget. May the force be with you, young padawan.

F.I.T. (Focus on Investing Today)

Budgeting Acronyms - FIT

Aside from having a fit body, you should also strive to have a fit financial portfolio. Luckily, there’s an acronym for that, and it’s a simple reminder to start working on your investments. You should definitely FIT by learning more about how certain investments work and how you could get started. Some investments only require PHP 1,000 and enthusiasm to start.

While others are a bit complicated to master, you’re sure to find resources and guides to help you get started. With the amount of information online, there’s really no excuse to not have an investment in 2021. Remember, just FIT!

**B.Y.O.B. (Bring Your Own Baon)**

Budgeting Acronyms - BYOB

Say goodbye to dining out on a daily basis and say hello to BYOB. Bringing your own baon to school or work offers a lot of positives. For one, you get to choose what you’re going to eat for the rest of the day. So if you have “lose weight” or “eat healthier” as part of your resolutions, BYOB will let you tick two goals packed in one neatly-prepared lunchbox.

And of course, BYOB will prevent you from mindlessly breaking the bank over food expenses. No more deciding where to go for lunch and no more second guessing whether to go stick with your diet or go order that Chickenjoy. Just prepare your food before you go and pocket the money you’re going to save.

**L.A.S.S. (Lagay Agad Sa Savings)**

Budgeting Acronyms - LASS

Got extra change? LASS! Got some spare money from your salary? LASS! Don’t know what to do with your 13th month pay? LASS! Got a bountiful aguinaldo last year? LASS! Whenever you receive extra money and you don’t have anything to spend it with, bank it immediately to your savings account. To make it shorter, go LASS. It’s that simple!

To make it more convenient, you can enroll your account to your bank’s automatic savings program. This involves taking a portion of your salary and saving it automatically to your savings. Now you can totally LASS without having to scour for an ATM deposit machine. If only they were as commonplace as regular ATMs.

**T3 (Tipid, Tiis, Tiyaga)**

Budgeting Acronyms - T3

Move over, Tulfo brothers. There’s a new T3 in town, and it involves the three steps in creating a successful and profitable budget. There’s no way you can forget this one because it’s just one letter repeated three times. Aren’t budgeting acronyms convenient?

Tipid - This involves the actual budgeting process and the steps you need to take to construct a realistic and sustainable budget.
Tiis - This requires resisting the temptation to buy anything outside your budget. All good things come to those who wait. And in this case, you should wait for your savings to grow.
Tiyaga - This involves finding more sources of income in addition to your main job or business. After all, the more income you generate, the more money you get to save.

F.I.R.E. (Financial Independence, Retire Early)

Budgeting Acronyms - FIRE

And to encourage you further to save, just remember your ultimate goal: to create FIRE. Not the one that’s gonna burn you, but the one that will help you achieve financial independence and retire early. FIRE^[2] is actually a global movement among millennials who want to retire when they reach their 30’s or 40’s with enough money to maintain their chosen lifestyle.

FIRE combines the concepts of minimalism, cost-cutting, and investing to generate savings faster. This makes FIRE one of the most important budgeting acronyms out there because it presents you the ultimate dream. Not all of us want to work forever, so do your best to earn enough money and afford an early and permanent vacation leave.

Final Thoughts

Budgeting, saving money, allocating resources, and all this adulting stuff can get overwhelming real fast. That’s why these budgeting acronyms exist to help simplify everything. Preparing for the future doesn’t have to be a drag, you know. You can find ways to make budgeting fun and exciting, as long as you actually commit to your budget.