Got my hours cut at work and the first place my mind went was that I don't actually know how to make a budget
Last Thursday my manager told me my hours at the hardware store are going from 38 down to 25 starting in June, and I sat in my truck in the parking lot for 20 minutes just staring at my bank app not knowing where to start. I have $340 in savings and rent is $850 on the first, so I wrote down every single thing I pay for in a notebook that night and honestly some of it shocked me. How do you figure out what a bare bones budget actually looks like when you've never had to make one before?
Been there man. When my hours got cut at the warehouse two winters ago I did the exact same thing in my car, just sat there doing the math over and over like it would change. Writing it all down is the right first move though, because you find stuff you forgot about, like that $12 a month you're still paying for some app you never open. For bare bones, start with the stuff that keeps a roof over your head and the lights on, so rent, power, water, insurance, then food and gas. Everything after that is a want, not a need, even if it stings to admit it.