Table of Contents
- Why you dread your boring budget
- Think of your budget as your bestie
- Put your Strive category first, seriously
- Your Revive category helps you live a fulfilled life
- Set your Survive category to autopay
- Personalize your budget to make it fun
- No budget is perfect
Money Banking
Article updated on Aug 28, 2024
If the word 'budget' makes you want to run and hide, I've got the solution.
Why You Can Trust CNET Money
Our Experts
Written by Bernadette Joy Money coach and founder of Crush Your Money Goals Bernadette Joy is a money expert that offers relatable advice on achieving financial freedom. She paid off $300,000 of debt in three years and invested enough to retire by 40. Bernadette has shared her expertise on TEDx, South By Southwest, and Nasdaq. Bernadette's upcoming book, CRUSH Your Money Goals, will be released in December 2024.
Edited by Dashia Milden Editor Dashia is a staff editor for CNET Money who covers all angles of personal finance, including credit cards and banking. From reviews to news coverage, she aims to help readers make more informed decisions about their money. Dashia was previously a staff writer at NextAdvisor, where she covered credit cards, taxes, banking B2B payments. She has also written about safety, home automation, technology and fintech. Laura Michelle Davis Editor Laura is a professional nitpicker and good-humored troubleshooter with over 10 years of experience in print and digital publishing. Before becoming an editor with CNET, she worked as an English teacher, Spanish medical interpreter, copy editor and proofreader. She is a fearless but flexible defender of both grammar and weightlifting, and firmly believes that technology should serve the people. Her first computer was a Macintosh Plus.
CNET staff -- not advertisers, partners or business interests -- determine how we review the products and services we cover. If you buy through our links, we may get paid.
Reviews ethics statementOur Experts
Written by Bernadette Joy Money coach and founder of Crush Your Money Goals Bernadette Joy is a money expert that offers relatable advice on achieving financial freedom. She paid off $300,000 of debt in three years and invested enough to retire by 40. Bernadette has shared her expertise on TEDx, South By Southwest, and Nasdaq. Bernadette's upcoming book, CRUSH Your Money Goals, will be released in December 2024.
Edited by Dashia Milden Editor Dashia is a staff editor for CNET Money who covers all angles of personal finance, including credit cards and banking. From reviews to news coverage, she aims to help readers make more informed decisions about their money. Dashia was previously a staff writer at NextAdvisor, where she covered credit cards, taxes, banking B2B payments. She has also written about safety, home automation, technology and fintech. Laura Michelle Davis Editor Laura is a professional nitpicker and good-humored troubleshooter with over 10 years of experience in print and digital publishing. Before becoming an editor with CNET, she worked as an English teacher, Spanish medical interpreter, copy editor and proofreader. She is a fearless but flexible defender of both grammar and weightlifting, and firmly believes that technology should serve the people. Her first computer was a Macintosh Plus.
CNET staff -- not advertisers, partners or business interests -- determine how we review the products and services we cover. If you buy through our links, we may get paid.
Reviews ethics statementWhy You Can Trust CNET Money
Table of Contents
- Why you dread your boring budget
- Think of your budget as your bestie
- Put your Strive category first, seriously
- Your Revive category helps you live a fulfilled life
- Set your Survive category to autopay
- Personalize your budget to make it fun
- No budget is perfect
Written by
Bernadette Joy
Money coach and founder of Crush Your Money Goals
Read more from Bernadette
Bernadette Joy is a money expert that offers relatable advice on achieving financial freedom. She paid off $300,000 of debt in three years and invested enough to retire by 40. Bernadette has shared her expertise on TEDx, South By Southwest, and Nasdaq. Bernadette's upcoming book, CRUSH Your Money Goals, will be released in December 2024.
Advertiser Disclosure
CNET editors independently choose every product and service we cover. Though we can’t review every available financial company or offer, we strive to make comprehensive, rigorous comparisons in order to highlight the best of them. For many of these products and services, we earn a commission. The compensation we receive may impact how products and links appear on our site.
Editorial Guidelines
Writers and editors and produce editorial content with the objective to provide accurate and unbiased information. A separate team is responsible for placing paid links and advertisem*nts, creating a firewall between our affiliate partners and our editorial team. Our editorial team does not receive direct compensation from advertisers.
How we make money
CNET Money is an advertising-supported publisher and comparison service. We’re compensated in exchange for placement of sponsored products and services, or when you click on certain links posted on our site. Therefore, this compensation may impact where and in what order affiliate links appear within advertising units. While we strive to provide a wide range of products and services, CNET Money does not include information about every financial or credit product or service.
