I believe in putting 10% of your income here-it’s a great way to start your budget with a spirit of generosity! Next, budget for your savings goals, like an emergency fund (depending on your Baby Step, which I'll talk about more in a minute). Pro tip: When you’re making a budget, before you put in all the things you’ll pay for this month, set aside money for giving. It’s time to list your expenses! (Yep, this is when that bank account or statement gets super helpful.) Now that you’ve planned for the money coming in, you can plan for the money going out. You can adjust later in the month if you make more and add that extra money to your money goal or another budget line. If you’ve got an irregular income, take a look at what you’ve made the last few months and list the lowest amount as this month’s planned income budget line. (Note: You’re working with net income here, meaning what you bring in after taxes or anything else that’s taken out of your paycheck.) Here’s an example: You work weekends as a barista or babysitter? That’s income, and it goes in your budget.Ĭreate separate income budget lines for every paycheck you (and your spouse) get, plus anything extra coming in. Income is any money you plan to get during that month-that means your normal paychecks and any extra money coming your way through a side hustle, garage sale, freelance work or anything like that. That will give you the info you need as you start filling out numbers in your budget. Pro tip: Before you dive into the steps, open up your online bank account or grab your bank statements. Just saying.) Either way, it’s totally okay to start by writing out everything on a sheet of paper. It’s what I use to budget-and it’s the best. No matter how you feel about budgeting right now, no matter what money goals you have, and no matter your income-you can make (and keep!) a budget in just five steps.īut first, decide if you’re making a budget on paper, with a spreadsheet, or in an app. Keep reading to see how to make it happen so you can make a budget that works for you. When you learn how to make a budget-and do it every month-you’re giving your money purpose. It’s a plan for what’s coming in and what’s going out. It’s not a restriction on spending-it’s a plan for what you’ll do with your money. Real quick though, let’s define the word budget. Make a New Budget Before the Month Begins.Here’s how to make a budget in five steps. So, here we go-bite by bite, step by step. (You go one bite at a time.) And no one leaps into budgeting like a pro. Because no one eats an elephant by swallowing it whole. Home Budget Worksheet - Our original selection of home budget worksheets.Making a budget might seem overwhelming at first, but hear this: You can do it.Personal Budget Spreadsheet The 12-month version of the personal budget version.Personal Monthly Budget - Like the one above, but less detailed, and designed to fit on a single page.Family Budget Planner - This is the 12-month version of the household budget spreadsheet listed above.Money Management Template - Record transactions to automatically populate the budget vs.If you add or remove any categories, just make sure that the formulas used for the totals don't get messed up. If your Net is negative, that means you have overspent your monthly budget.Īdding or Removing categories: The household budget template contains a very detailed list of categories, which you may or may not need. The Monthly Budget Summary table totals up all your income and expenses and calculates the Net as Income minus Expenses. If you spend more than you budgeted, the Difference between the Projected and Actual values will be negative, and if your Actual income is less than your Projected income, the Difference will be a negative number. In this spreadsheet, the calculations are set up so that negative numbers are bad. The cells in the "Difference" column use conditional formatting to make negative numbers red. At the end of the month, you record in the "Actual" column how much you really spent during the month. This represents your goal - you're trying to keep from spending more than this amount. You record your desired budget for each category in the "Budget" column. The purpose of this worksheet is to help you compare your monthly budget with your actual income and expenses. You may also want to read the article " How to Budget". Our article " How to Make a Budget" explains how to use these spreadsheets to create your budget. You'll want to replace the values in the Home Expenses category with your own. To use this template, fill in the cells highlighted with a light-blue background (the "Budget" and "Actual" columns). 42 Effective Ways to Save Money Budgeting Tips for the New Year Using the Household Budget Worksheet
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