A budget is not a punishment.
It is simply a plan for where your money goes before it disappears.
You can still spend money on meals out, travel and things you enjoy. The important thing is that you have chosen what to spend, rather than wondering where it went.
Entry level roles are all the first that are getting wiped out by AI. Finance Assistants, administrators, customer advisors (call centres), Hr assistants, junior data analysts etc. When a lot of entry level jobs are wiped out what happens?
Investment fees look harmless when written as 0.5% or 1%.
Over several decades, they can consume a considerable part of your portfolio.
You cannot control the market, but you can control how much you pay to participate in it.