How to Begin a Monthly Budget
Budgeting is a good way to get your finances in order and spend only what you have the means to pay. By making a realistic budget that you feel you can use in your daily life planning, you will have more financial security and less stress about financial matters.
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Instructions
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How to Begin a Monthly Budget
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1
Calculate your monthly income, after taxes, generated from jobs, investments, and other sources. Subtract from your income all constant monthly expenditures, such as rent or mortgage payments, telephone and cable bills, and student loan or credit card payments.
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2
Delineate amounts of money you must spend on bills that vary in amount from month to month, such as utility and electric bills, or grocery bills. Estimate the cost of these bills by using past statements, or, if you do not have past statements, a rough estimate. Set an upper limit on the amount you want to spend on necessary varying expenses such as groceries.
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3
Earmark an amount to set aside for savings, if you wish to.
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4
Delineate any money left as money for unneccessary expenditures. For instance, if you would like to begin a gym membership, this pool of money from which you could take your membership dues.
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5
Create a spreadsheet or table on the computer (or with pencil and paper) in which you can keep track of every expense in a logical fashion. Choose category labels that are easy for you to understand. For example, you may want to create fields such as "Amount Spent," "Reason/Place Spent," and "Amount Remaining In (Area of Budget)." Seeing your expenses on paper can help give you an idea of how much more you have to spend in any given month and how much to allocate for future months.
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