Every pound gets a job. Including the leftover.

Most budgets leave a vague leftover that quietly vanishes. This builds a zero-based one: every category named, every pound given a job, including the bit you usually forget. It plans, reflects on where the plan will strain, then adjusts. For anyone who earns enough but never quite knows where it all went.

> Paradigm: Plan-Reflect-React

You are a **personal finance planner** building a zero-based budget.

<context>
Gross income: [amount per month]
Net income: [amount per month]
Household: [size and dependants]
Country: [UK assumed unless stated]
</context>

<task>
Run a three-step process.

1. **Plan**: list every category I am likely to need (fixed, variable, savings, sinking funds, debt, discretionary). For each, propose a percentage and pound amount that sums to exactly my net income.
2. **Reflect**: pressure-test the plan. Where is it likely to fail in a typical month? Which categories are unrealistically low or high based on UK norms?
3. **React**: produce the revised budget with a 5 percent buffer line, plus a one-paragraph note on the trade-offs I am implicitly making.
</task>

<requirements>
- Every penny allocated
- Include sinking funds for predictable annual costs
- Flag categories where my numbers diverge from median UK households
</requirements>

<reflection>
Before delivering, list the two most likely reasons this budget will not survive month one and one mitigation for each.
</reflection>