How to Make a Monthly Budget

An easy approach to making a monthly budget work for you.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• List of monthly expenses
• Pay stubs
• Calendar

1. Gather together all of your monthly expenses and pay stubs or receipts from all forms of income. Having the actual statements is very helpful because you will have access to exact amounts and due dates.

2. Write the name and amount of the bill on the due date on the calendar. Also write the average amount you make per pay period on the dates you will be paid. Having it laid out this way on the calendar you can see all due dates and pay dates at the same time.

3. On a seperate piece of paper write down your pay dates and expected or average earnings. List the bills that must come from each pay in order not to be late. Calculate the leftover money. If possible, it's always a good idea to budget in some kind of savings. Even as little as $25 a month will add up quickly.

Tips & Warnings

• I found it useful to put all of my information into an Excel spreadsheet and use formulas to calculate amounts automatically.
• Hand-write all the information in a notebook and update it as needed. This way you will always have the information handy.

[dasbootjoe]

on 3/25/2009 Good article! Thanks for sharing*****

[Biscuit4u]

on 1/2/2009 Great advice... Great reminder. I need to get back on top of my finances. Thanks

[hoolihan0519]

on 12/30/2008 Allvery good ideas. Thanks for the tips. RCRR.

[Devero]

on 12/30/2008 Thanks for the budgeting tips. It took me a while to find a system that works for me.

[daconn]

on 12/30/2008 I love your idea about using a calendar to see income/expenses at a glance.