The financial expert named ways to manage the budget wisely

Sound budget management is the main skill of a financially literate person. Contrary to popular belief, this does not mean constant restrictions and refusals of desired purchases. On the contrary, it is the ability to afford more, but spend less. Arina Samoilova, an expert on home economics at the X5 Club loyalty program, shared her life hacks in an interview with Izvestia on September 20, how to start living better without compromising her wallet.

"The first and most important step to an effective personal economy is budget planning. Start by making a list of all your income and expenses. Divide expenses into fixed (rent, utility bills) and variable (grocery shopping, entertainment). This will help you understand how much free money you have left," she explained.

The expert recommended the 50/30/20 method: in it, 50% of income is allocated to necessary expenses, 30% to desires and 20% to savings. This approach not only helps to control expenses, but also creates a reserve for unforeseen situations.

The next step is prioritization of expenses. You need to determine what is really important to you. You can make a list of necessary and desired purchases and arrange them according to their importance. For example, if you need to buy new appliances, but also want to update your wardrobe, first take care of the essentials.

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At the same time, take into account external factors such as seasonality, discounts and customer days. This way you can make all your planned purchases at a better price, and spend the remaining money on additional purchases or increasing the financial airbag.

Everyday expenses should also be optimized — small daily expenses may seem insignificant, but they add up to a significant amount when calculated over a month or a year. Therefore, it is worthwhile to approach such expenses rationally — not to deny yourself them, but to try to benefit from them. For example, you can use cashback services that allow you to return some of the money for purchases in supermarkets and other stores. Compare the cost of shipping the same products on different marketplaces. And also, do not forget about subscribing to services that you use on an ongoing basis, if the benefit from them is more than the price of monthly maintenance.

"Large purchases can significantly hit your budget if you don't plan them in advance. One of the ways to avoid financial difficulties is to distribute large purchases over different periods," Samoilova suggested.

For example, if you want to update the furniture at home and buy new gadgets, you should plan purchases for different months or even seasons. It is quite easy to assess the degree of acceptability of an acquisition — make a purchase if you do not have to limit yourself to mandatory expenses and reduce your standard of living.

Another way to afford more at a lower cost is to look for alternative solutions. Instead of buying expensive brands, consider purchasing similar products from lesser-known brands. They are often not inferior in quality, but they are much cheaper.

Earlier, on August 1, eCredit experts (part of Auto.<url>") told Izvestia about the frequent cases of Russians making a large down payment when buying a car on credit. It was clarified that in the first six months of 2025, the share of car loans with a contribution of more than 50% increased to 37%, and the share of those who take out a loan with a minimum contribution (0-10%) decreased to 8%.

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