How to setup a budget

Will be able to set up a budget in excel or open office

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Computer
• Time
• Excel / Open Office software
• Daily, monthly expenses and income

1. If you are going to set up a budget using excel or open office, follow these steps to help you along the way...

2. 

   The first thing you need to do is set up your income. Use the first tab in your excel spreadsheet and name it INCOME. The next step is setting up your columns. Make column A: DATE and column B: INCOME. Now whenever you get paid, add the date and the amount to your spreadsheet. Keep a running tally of your income by using the following formula: =SUM("your income cells")

3. Next, create new tabs (worksheets) for every one of your expenses. Set them up the same way that you did your income spreadsheet.

4. 

   Now on a new spreadsheet, set up your totals. Take each one of your expenses and add them up. Take your total income and subtract it from your total expenses. You can also set up what your percentage of income is per expense. Take what you have spent on a certain expense, divide it by your income and multiply this by 100.

5. Now you will have an idea about what you are spending and how much you are spending in a particular area. If you only want to add 10% of your income into savings but your new budget shows that your adding 20%, you can adjust what you are spending to get your savings down to 10%.

Tips & Warnings

• You can also use Yodlee.com to track your expenses and income.