A budget is not a restriction; it's a plan for your money. And the language of that plan is basic algebra.

The Master Equation: Income - Expenses = Savings.

Your first step is to define your variables. Your 'Income' is a known value.

Your 'Expenses' variable is actually a sum of many smaller variables: Rent, Groceries, Gas, Entertainment, etc.

Your 'Savings' is the variable you are trying to optimize. Your goal is to make it as large as possible.

This is an algebraic modeling problem. You have constraints (your income is fixed) and variables you can control (your expenses).

Let's say you want to save $500 a month. Income - Expenses = 500. Now you can solve for the 'Expenses' variable.

This tells you the maximum amount you can spend to reach your goal.

You can use percentages (which are just algebraic expressions) to set targets. 'I will spend no more than 30% of my income on housing.'

A budget is simply a system of algebraic equations you design for your own life. Take control of the variables.