Things You'll Need:
- Computer
- Internet
- Budget excel forms
- Budgeting software
- personal finance data
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Step 1
The first step to making a budget is to download printable forms that can be used to record your income and expenses. These forms can be simple excel or office record sheets with math functions or more detailed Budget Finance software programs with built in budget calculators.
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Step 2
Second set up your forms so they are easy to use for your printable budget needs and match your expense schedules and income pay periods.
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Step 3
Set up your printable budget forms by priority into categories of income, savings, expenses, and personal and emergency money. A good example would be: 1. Budget Income 2. Savings and Retirement 3. Home 4. Auto
5. Personal Needs 6. Entertainment 7. Other 8. Emergency funds -
Step 4
Make sure to set up your budget forms with two columns of numbers. One is a "Projected" or "Proposed" budget amount and the other the "Actual" Budget amount.
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Step 5
Use the Projected budget column to record your estimated income and expense goals and the Actual budget column to record actual money earned or spent under these categories on your printable forms.
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Step 6
Now total all your budget categories and subtract from your starting income to get either a projected or actual balance. This will help you make the necessary adjustments on your forms by estimating your budget goals and check yourself compared to what you actually spend.
