Start from your statement, not your memory
The first mistake everyone makes is estimating expenses from memory. Memory is always optimistic. Open your banking app, pull the last three months, and categorise what you actually spent — not what you think you spent.
You'll usually find one or two lines you weren't accounting for: rolling subscriptions, food delivery, or small repeated transfers that look trivial until they're totalled.
Separate fixed from variable
Fixed is what leaves whether you act or not: rent, instalments, subscriptions, your phone bill. Variable is what you decide day to day.
You can't cut fixed costs this month, though you may be able to renegotiate them later. Variable is the only space where you have an immediate decision.
Pay commitments before anything else
The practical rule: on the day your salary lands, move your commitments into a separate account before you spend a single riyal. What's left is your real budget.
This inverts the equation — instead of paying from what's left over, you spend from what's left after paying.
Leave room for chaos
A budget with no allowance for the unexpected breaks at the first surprise, and then gets abandoned entirely. Give 'unexpected' its own explicit line, even a small one.
General guidance, not personal advice. These articles explain how things generally work. They aren't financial or legal advice for your specific situation, and Ebra can't advise you on debts it isn't handling.
