How to Make a Budget Workbook

Gauge the health of your finances.

Having a budget in place is the basis for future financial planning and investments. Until you get a handle on where your money is coming from and where it is going, it is impossible to predict how much you will have left over for savings and investments. If you have access to a spreadsheet program, you can use that program to create a detailed budget for yourself and your family. Once that budget is in place, you can use it to analyze your spending patterns and identify places where you can save money.

Instructions

1. Gather your monthly bills and income information before you start. Have that information ready to enter into your finished budget workbook.

2. Log on to your computer and open your spreadsheet program. Open a new workbook and save it with a distinctive title like "Family Budget."

3. Download a budget template designed for your spreadsheet program. A number of budget templates exist for popular programs like Microsoft Excel. You can create a budget workbook without a template, but using a premade template makes the job a lot easier.

4. Enter your income information into the income portion of the budget workbook template, or create an income section on your own. List each source of income a separate line. List all sources of income, including your regular wages, bonus and incentive payments, dividends, interest and income from self-employment.

5. Add up all your sources of income using the Sum function. For instance, if your sources of income are listed in cells B2 through B6, the formula would read "=SUM(B2:B6)."

6. Create an expense section or use the one that is part of the budget template you downloaded. List each type of household expense you have, both mandatory items like the rent, mortgage payment and utility bills, and discretionary spending like dinners out and cable TV.

7. Enter the numbers from your most recent household bills into the expense section of your budget workbook. Use the sum function to add up those expenses and then compare your income to your actual expenses.

8. Use the original budget workbook you created as a template going forward. Save the budget template under a different name and then plug the appropriate numbers into it each month to track your progress.

References

• Microsoft Office; Budget Worksheet Template