bankroll, financial pillow, cashouts

I am curently rebuilding my bankroll on lower then usual stakes for me. So, in this post, I would like to explain my basic bankroll management rulescashout strategy and general approach to budgeting. I have always been on more conservative site of bankroll management. I always play on my own and poker is the only income for me at the moment, so I feel like I need to be tight with money and stick to the rules. Basically, be responsible.

Bankroll management.
I follow 400 buyins rule. I know that mtt sngs can be very swingy and when you withdraw often, your bankroll can and will go down very fast if you don't apply strict bankroll management principles.

Financial pillow.
I feel that I play way better when I have money saved up for at least 6 months worth of rent and 1 month worth of expenses. Fortunately, it is cheap where I live and you can live well from poker even when you grind low stakes. I am curently regrinding my bankroll as I have withdrew significant portion of it to cover my rent for 6 months. I have moved apartments 2 weeks ago, to live on my own and I feel that it is neccessary to have this financial backup. I understand that everyone is different but this approach serves me well.

Cashouts and money management.
I follow pretty good cashout strategy. I found this approach on poket5s forum some time ago and I feel it's brilliant approach. The rule is that we set a day in which we withdraw (to minimise potential fees and currency convertions) and we stick to it. Me, personally, I withdraw weekly after sunday session. We also set a % of our buyins that we want to cashout. In other words, we withdraw our EV or a part of it. What does it mean exactly? Let's say we have a relevant samplesize on games we usually play. We know that we have 15% ROI. If we withdraw 15% of our total buyins for a set period of the time, then we would be withdrawing all of our EV profits. For example, we played 1000 games with average buy in (ABI) of $5.00, so we invested $5000. We know that we beat those games for 10% ROI. We decide that we also want to build up the bankroll, so we withdraw only 5%. Simple math: 5% x $5000 invested = $250 goes for cashouts. Our EV ROI however is 10%, so another $250 that we made in EV goes towards building the bankroll. Simple, right? But so effective! This strategy prevents cashing out too much and also it makes sure that we keep playing. I found it very motivating. It is mathematical approach. Kind of as we would be getting salary for our efforts.

Budgeting.
I do think that poker players usually overspend. I am constantly trying to avoid unneccesary purchases and going out, eating out too much etc. At the end of a day it all adds up and you sacrifice a lot of EV by buying stupit shit or being lazy and going to restaurants instead of cooking for yourself. There are things that I have no problem spending money on though. For me, experiences > materialistic things. I strongly believe that budgeting and monitoring your spending habbits is very important. Set a budget for a week and stick to it. You will reap the benefits later. Additionally, saving is super important. It doesn't have to be a huge part of your earnings, even the small % will add up in the future.