Easy Budget Planning

Create a budget to manage your expenses and income.

Whether you find yourself frustrated with bills each month, or you just need to see where your money is really going; an easy personal budget can help you sort it all out. Create a budget to record your estimated income and expenses and then compare your estimations with the actual numbers each month. Once you have recorded everything, you can have all of the information you need to adjust and manage your expenses according to your income.

Things You'll Need

• Notebook
• Pen
• Paper

Instructions

1. Evaluate your monthly income. To do this, write down every source of income you have and write down the amount you receive from each source. Add the amounts together to come up with your total income.

2. Evaluate your monthly expenses. To do this, carry a small notebook or day planner with you. Mark down every expense and list what it is for throughout the entire month. Add the expenses together to see your total monthly expenses.

3. Use a ruler to make an easy budget worksheet. Draw a line along the top of the page, about 1/2 inch down from the top. This will be the label heading for your budget.

4. Draw another line from top to bottom at the left side of the page. Draw it about an inch away from the edge. This will be the area for category labels.

5. Draw two more vertical lines, spaced evenly across the page to divide the budget into three columns. Label the top of each column (in your header). Use the labels "Estimated," "Actual" and "Difference."

6. Draw 10 horizontal lines, evenly spaced, to divide the budget into rows for each type of income or expense. Write the names of each type of income in the far left column on separate rows. Fill-in the amount of income you expect to receive from each under the "Estimated" column.

7. Write the names of each type of expense in the rest of the spaces on the far left column. For example, "House payment/Rent", "Phone bill" or "Electricity." Fill in the estimated amount of each expense in the "Estimated" column.

8. Write the actual amounts of income and expenses in the "Actual" column as your bills and income arrive, or as expenses happen. Record the difference between your estimated amounts and actual amounts in the "Difference" column for each income and expense row.

References

• Utah State University: Bankruptcy Education: Creating a Budget