Certified financial planner Filip Telibasa, owner and planner at Benzina Wealth, is a big advocate for what he calls reverse budgeting, or budgeting backward.

“The basics of the approach is that we first set up an automated savings plan for clients that is tied to their goals,” he says. To do that, he asks clients to tell him what they want to accomplish in life, in the short term and over their lifetime, so they are making sure their bills are paid, but they are also saving for the things that truly matter to them. 

This method is often called reverse budgeting because the funds to pay for all of those goals are taken out of someone’s account first each pay period (or month) instead of those items being the last thing you save for. 

“It allows you to make sure that what’s important to you is being fulfilled,” Telibasa says. “If you do have money left over, you can spend it freely and not have buyer’s remorse.”