Tariffs … again? That’s right! With these trade taxes remaining in headlines from your favorite news organizations, here they are in our blog headlines, too. While Jason’s most recent blog focused on how those tariffs are causing uncertainty in the markets (and how you can get through it), you may also be feeling their effects in your cash-flow plan. 

If you read his piece a couple of weeks ago — and even if you didn’t — you probably know that Jason builds portfolios to withstand tumult in the markets. But did you know that the cash-flow plans we work on together are inherently flexible, too? From the current 20% tax on Chinese imports to the halted-and-now-starting-in-April tariffs on goods from Canada and Mexico, retailers are preparing. But what can you do? Flexible budgeting! Learn how to use your current budget to roll with these punches or how to reset your cash-flow plan to give you the flexibility you need in this ever-changing landscape.

Your Fixed Expenses

Yes, I just mentioned flexible budgeting, but you won’t find much of it here. The fixed section of your budget is made up of costs that are exactly the same or pretty much the same every month. Think about your mortgage and auto loan as well as your utilities, phone bill, subscriptions, and gym membership. It may also include your home and auto insurance if you pay them on a monthly basis. (Although you may want to check to see if you could pay less with semi-annual payments for your auto and/or an annual payment for your home insurance!)

This part of your budget may change from time to time, but there’s not much you can do about it. So what can you do? Contact your cable, internet, and phone providers to ensure your service plans suit your needs. Ask about opportunities to save. Review your subscriptions to see if you’re paying for streaming or other services you don’t use. Pause and cancel these as necessary. Unless you’re locked in at a single yearly price or grandparented into a low monthly rate, you can usually cancel subscriptions for a few months, then turn them back on as needed.

I keep this set of expenses in the top section of my Monarch Money “Budget” tab. I also collapse it because the items I keep here are exactly the same every month. I don’t need to waste my precious time looking at it or scrolling past it every time I log in! When my partner Zack and I chat about our recent spending and plans for the month, we don’t even discuss it. Our time is better spent on the next two sections, and I’ll get to the flexible budgeting piece shortly.

Your Non-Monthly Expenses

Ok, I skipped ahead by a section here. That’s because I keep my non-monthly expenses group at the bottom of my Monarch and at the bottom of your cash-flow planning worksheet. These expenses “live” at the bottom because I don’t have to look at them every month and you shouldn’t have to, either. They’re non-monthly, after all!

My non-monthly section includes spending on things like renters and auto insurance, auto maintenance, gifts, health care, charity, travel — the list goes on. If it doesn’t happen every month, it goes here.

Having just read through that list, you probably noticed some things that you can be flexible on. For healthcare and insurance, I wouldn’t recommend trying to be flexible. Take care of yourself first. That also goes for gift-giving and charity: Take care of yourself first … before you give. We’re all going through tariff tumult, and others will understand if you’re not able to be quite as generous as you were in the past.

That leaves the last major item: Travel. While certainly not a fun place from which to cut expenses, it’s there if you need to rely on travel dollars to meet your other needs.

Your Flexible Expenses (Flexible Budgeting!)

This is where you can really make the magic happen. Your flexible expenses section is home to the monthly spending that isn’t consistently the same amount — or maybe not even close. See grocery prices increasing due to those pesky tariffs? Maybe you spend less on dining out this month and move some of your restaurant dollars to your grocery fund. Have a miscellaneous expense come up, like your auto registration tags? It’s ok to borrow from your entertainment category to give that misc category the wiggle room it needs. From your bar and liquor store fund to personal care and beauty as well as the other “stuff” you buy, this is where you can roll with the punches. Flexible budgeting!

It’s also where you can keep your cash flow in check. Remember, you’re barely reviewing your fixed spending category. And you’re rarely reviewing your non-monthly category. Focus your time and attention here, making changes as necessary to suit your lifestyle and needs month to month.

Start with some goals, and you might start to notice some trends. If you keep moving dollars to or from certain categories within your flexible section, it’s time to up the accuracy of your plan. Tariffs might force changes to your spending on food, goods, and services. You can use your historical spending to make informed decisions about how to make your budget work. After all, controlling what you can control is our mantra during turbulent times.

Making It Your Own

Speaking of control, adjust your fixed, flexible, and non-monthly spending as you see fit. Need to move your charitable giving from non-monthly to fixed because it’s the same every month and you treat it like a subscription? Go for it! Only really use parking and tolls during the hockey season like me? Move it to non-monthly! Prefer to get rid of the public transportation as well as taxis, cabs, and ride-share categories since you only use them when you’re on vacation? You do you! 

In fact, embrace flexible budgeting and do whatever makes the most sense in your life. The goal of your cash-flow plan is for it to be easy to use — and easy to adjust as your expenses change. 

Finding yourself in a tight spot? Let’s get together for a cash-flow planning consultation. It can be as simple as sending me access to or a spreadsheet export from the budgeting tool you’re using. I’ll use my cash-flow planning worksheet to “translate” your data into your RightCapital for financial planning accuracy. We’ll then create a workable budget that you can actually use. Rather have a fresh start? I’ll send you an FPFoCo-sponsored Monarch link, and we’ll take care of the cost through our implementation credit policy. We can even set your Monarch up during a consult.

From tariffs to inflation and everything else that comes your way, let’s work together to make flexible budgeting easy with a cash-flow plan that works for you.