While not really a budget tool per say, I’d recommend checking out Beancount if you are looking for a power tool and you are comfortable with a bit of Python. The only really manual steps I have in my setup is downloading transactions from my banks and categorizing any transactions that the machine learning plugin fails to categorize.

I feel like there is going to be a disproportionate amount of people not using a standard qwerty keyboard that replies to this :)

I use qwerty on a standard 100% and another split 60%. I am trying to switch to ortholinear split Dvorak, but haven’t been able to design a keyboard I am comfortable switching to full time. I would also need two of them, one for home, one for work.

I had an issue where one keyboard (worked with another one) worked in bootloader, but not when entering the encryption password after that. I believe I solved that by moving keyboard earlier in the module list in mkinitcpio.conf. Maybe something similar would solve your issue?

Fairphone 5 has 5 year warranty. Sure that’s not 4, but the title makes it seem that 4 is longest out there.

You seem to have a lot of recommendations already, but I just wanted to mention beancount as well. It’s a decently powerful plain text accounting software. Not sure if it does invoicing.

For me it has been good because I think it is fun to hack some new functionality together that I feel missing. E.g. parse pdf receipts and break down transactions into postings based on what is in the receipt. But it you aren’t interested in simple Python programming, I’d probably not recommend it.

Being able to easily version control it using git is really helpful when you are trying things.

Trickier than most. Pretty detailed. I think the island is a nice touch. The ropes are also interesting.

The dolphins!

Fairphone because I want it to last 5+ years without any annoying repairs.

I import my transactions into Beancount, a plain text accounting software, a few times a year. My setup uses basic machine learning to classify each transaction. This gives me a decent understanding of my situation when combined with Fava, which visualizes the data.

Each month I save a set amount of money automatically into a few different index funds.

I make sure everything that is a monthly payment is something I actually use. Only one streaming service at a time, cheapest phone service etc.

I keep an eye on my main account every now and then to see how much I have. If i feel like it is stacking up more than what I may need in a short amount of time, I either buy more index funds or put it in an account with interest on it. If the main account ever runs out of money I have done something wrong.

I would say I don’t really budget. For me I do not feel the need. I am by no means rich, but not spending money on wasteful things really does a lot. E.g. make food most of the time instead of eating out, cut your own hair, only buy things that last and do your research before buying anything significant.

Please keep in mind I live in the EU and pay a sort of salary insurance so I do not have to stress a lot if something were to happen to change my situation.

I could recommend evaluating if you really need shampoo. Look into no-poo or acid rinse. I use local made soap and acid rinse instead of shampoo, works well for me. Other than that as others said we need more info.