How to Make a Household Budget List

Budgeting ensures you have enough money to pay each bill.

Living without a budget may work if you are frugal and organized. Chances are, you don't fit that category. A budget not only shows where all of your money is going, but also it can help you create a plan to pay off debt or begin saving. This leads to financial freedom and serious relief from the stress that comes with having overdue bills. Creating a household budget list isn't hard; it just takes some time and dedication.

Things You'll Need

• Notebook
• Pencil
• Paystubs
• Receipts

Instructions

1. Give yourself 30 days to track all your expenses. This helps you decide how much money needs to be allocated to each expense category when you create them. For 30 days write each expense in a notebook and list what it is for. You can save your receipts and do this at the end of the month if you don't have time to do it on a daily basis. Just make sure you include every expense including that cup of store-bought coffee.

2. Organize your household expenses into categories. The most common categories include mortgage or rent, utilities, groceries, clothing, entertainment, auto, insurance, savings and miscellaneous. If you have any debts, add that category to the list. You can make the categories as general or as specific as you want. For example, you may want to add a category for future home repairs. For those items you pay only annually or quarterly, estimate a monthly amount and include it in your budget to avoid bad surprises when the expenses come due.

3. Review your paystubs and any other sources of income to determine how much money you have to work with each month.

4. Review your receipts to determine how much of your income needs to be allotted for each category. For example, if your total monthly income is $4,000 and your rent is $1,000, than 25 percent of your income should be allotted toward the mortgage or rent category. If your expenses are higher than your income, you need to cut back on some categories.

5. Follow your budget for the next three months and then review it. You may find that you are not using as much money on clothing as you thought you would, and the cable company raised its rates again, causing you go over your budget in the utilities category. Your budget is not set in stone and can be changed when needed.

Tips & Warnings

• You may also want to budget money for a tithe to your local church, or for your favorite charity.

• Office supply stores sell premade budget worksheets if you would like to start off using one.

References

• Nolo: How to Make a Budget and Stick to It
• Woman's Day: How to Create a Household Budget