YOUR BANK BALANCE IS NOT YOUR BUDGET

Imagine your account shows CHF 2,400. Your brain may translate that as: 'I have CHF 2,400.' But some of it is already intended for rent, insurance and future tuition fees — and you still need to live until the end of the month.

Use four steps:

1. WHAT YOU HAVE

The money available for the period.

2. WHAT IS ALREADY COMMITTED

Rent, insurance, subscriptions, bills and known provisions.

3. WHAT YOU NEED FOR DAY-TO-DAY LIVING

Food, hygiene, everyday study materials and supplies, and necessary daily expenses.

4. WHAT IS YOURS TO CHOOSE

Your room for choice.

WHAT YOU HAVE − ALREADY COMMITTED − LIVING ESSENTIALS = WHAT IS YOURS TO CHOOSE

ILLUSTRATIVE EXAMPLE — NOT AN 'OFFICIAL EPFL BUDGET'

Resources: CHF 2,400/month.

• FMEL Ochettes room, verified price: CHF 510;
• health insurance, EPFL Swiss-scenario reference: CHF 400;
• personal provision for EPFL tuition fees: CHF 130;
• phone, assumption: CHF 20;
• transport, assumption: CHF 55;
• personal liability insurance, EPFL reference: CHF 10;
• food, EPFL reference: CHF 600;
• study materials and supplies, EPFL reference: approximately CHF 100/month on average;
• hygiene, assumption: CHF 60;
• irregular-cost reserve, assumption: CHF 100.

Total: CHF 1,985. Yours to choose: CHF 415.

This CHF 415 can be spent, saved or kept as a safety margin.

CHANGE JUST ONE THING

Same budget, but with a room at CHF 850. Total: CHF 2,325. Remaining: CHF 75.

An extra CHF 340 in housing costs has almost eliminated the room for choice. The problem is therefore not automatically 'too many coffees': it may be structural.

EXERCISE — WHAT DO I REALLY HAVE LEFT?

• What I have: CHF ____
• Already committed: CHF ____
• Living essentials: CHF ____
• Yours to choose: CHF ____

If the result is negative, first identify which line creates the gap before randomly cutting the things you enjoy.

You can also do this exercise online for free, without an account or email address. Your figures remain on your device and are never sent to SEEC.

The previous chapter calculates what remains. This chapter gives you three zones for deciding where your money goes.

1. ALREADY COMMITTED

Money that already has a job: rent, insurance, phone, transport, tuition fees, an existing subscription or an annual bill for which you are setting money aside.

If you have to pay it, stop treating it as free money.

2. LIVING ESSENTIALS

What you need to get through the month: food, hygiene, everyday study materials and supplies, transport not covered elsewhere and small day-to-day necessities.

Food is not all spent on the first day of the month, but that does not make it optional.

3. YOURS TO CHOOSE — ENJOYMENT WITH AWARENESS

This is where you choose the things you enjoy consciously. The goal is not to eliminate them, but to know what you can genuinely afford today without being afraid of running short tomorrow.

Cinema, restaurants, sport, travel, a hobby, a project, a personal purchase — or simply an amount you decide to keep.

'Yours to choose' means room for decision, not money that must be spent.

AN EXPENSE CAN MOVE FROM ONE ZONE TO ANOTHER

A sports membership is 'yours to choose' while you are still considering it. Once you sign the contract, its payments become 'already committed'.

The right question is therefore not only 'Is this essential?' but also 'How much freedom to decide do I still have today?'

If an expense seems to belong in two zones, do not hunt for a perfect category. Make it visible. A visible expense can be decided; an invisible expense can surprise you.

EXERCISE — MY BUDGET IN THREE ZONES

Create three columns:

ALREADY COMMITTED | LIVING ESSENTIALS | YOURS TO CHOOSE

Put every known expense somewhere. Then look at the third column. If it is tiny or negative, return to the first two: the imbalance may be structural.