Things You'll Need:
- Calculators
- File Cabinets
- File Folders
- Personal Financial Software
- Calculators
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Step 1
Get out three months of pay stubs and determine your average monthly income.
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Step 2
Gather three months of bills, add them up and divide by three to calculate your monthly fixed expenses such as rent or mortgage, utilities and phone, car payment, insurance and student loan payments.
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Step 3
Add together three months of other monthly expenses, including groceries, clothing, credit card expenses, medical bills and cash outlays. Divide by three and add the result to your monthly expense total.
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Step 4
Evaluate your expenses; look for opportunities to economize, and develop a plan to cut back spending in specific areas.
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Step 5
Develop a monthly budget and stick to it.
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Step 6
Set up a savings plan such as a passbook account, certificate of deposit (CD) or individual retirement account (IRA), and begin making regular deposits.
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Step 7
Track your income and expenses monthly to evaluate how the plan is working, then fine-tune to produce the desired results. Use personal finance software to gain an accurate overview of your spending and locate problematic habits.










Comments
miclocke said
on 8/17/2009 Helpful article.
healthnut337 said
on 6/29/2009 Switch your cell phone provider to a prepaid one, it is very easy to budget your cell phone usage and cut costs as most people dont spend that much time on cell phones. I use tracfone, it really helps me budget my expenses.
mj17 said
on 6/23/2009 I have started a family budget but its so difficult to keep it! Thanks anyway,
cadence said
on 6/20/2009 Having a budget is so important. You need to spend enough to keep you going, but save for the future too. Good article.
informationcs said
on 5/16/2009 loved your artical i am allway falling off my budget and looking for finance help.