<prompt> Human: So as the title says, Im in my early 20s, a couple years out of college, and Im making way more money than I actually need to.I worked for a while at a job that I struggled to get by on, but now I have my dream job with lots of upward mobility and a very solid paycheck.My problem is, I never really learned how to budget. I didnt have ANY money before, so I knew that beyond paying rent, utilities, and my grocery bill, I couldnt do much at all. That wasnt a fun year, to say the least. Now, though, I have a job that pays 3x what I made before, and I live very comfortably... but I have taken over student loans from my family, have a nicer apartment so higher rent, and my car recently gave out after 7 years of faithful service, so I need to buy a newto me car.I need a kick in the ass to start budgeting properly. I tried using Mint, but the amount of time it took to classify everything, then go back and reclassify things that were wrong was just way too much for me. I know I am going to need to buckle down with car payments being added, I just need to know how to start.I dont really have many vices - I work a lot, go out to dinner with my girlfriend a lot, and drink good beer the last two go together - wed much rather go to a good brewpub than a fancy restaurant. We spent Valentines day trying samples at different breweries haha. Beyond that, I dont really spend money on much beyond eating well and entering IM sports leagues which can be expensive!What advice would you give to help me get on the budgeting bandwagon?Assistant: Well your first step is to create a budget and pay yourself first. Without that you can not do any of the other steps. To do this you must know what you spent items on last year. Also you must know what you have. Also your car buy by the pound. Buy a reliable cheap 3 year or older car. 1. Make a budget that is well bellow you means. Money and items does not bring happiness but being poor will make you unhappy as money is required to live. Pay yourself firstThis means make savings a priority. Budget for spending only after you already put away money towards savings. The more you put towards savings the better.2. Start my Emergency Fund: 1 month emergency fund.or 1000 if you want to get started and you like to have MATH on your side.3. Pay down high interest Debt: Credit card and debt over 7 APR. Highest APR first. If you get discouraged easily lowest balance first.4. Take Advantage of employer match programs: Contribute to max match to a HSA if applicable. 4b. Contribute 401k at to employer match.6. Build a 4-6 month emergency fund.7. Make extra Loan Payments.8. Contribute to a IRA to max currently 5500.9. Ensure short to mid term savings is adequately funded.1-20 year savings. Kids College fund etc..10. Contribute to your 401k to max.11. Contribute to Taxable Investment accounts.If you are not at least to step 9 then you are not where you need to be with your amount of disposable income. You will need to cut back on your spending. Human: I currently contribute 6 max allowed to my 401K, with my company matching 3.5. I dont have any credit card debt, and the only current debt I have would be school loans, which are nasty evil creatures. I am a very numbers-oriented person... Ive just always seen the act of budgeting as taking the fun away from spending the money I worked so hard to earn. I know its necessary, I just havent found the right way to balance doing the chore with not despising the act of doing it.  <response>: I am a very numbers-oriented person... Ive just always seen the act of budgeting as taking the fun away from spending the money I worked so hard to earn.Think of it instead as smoothing your consumption curve to allow more spending in the future. 