Step 3: Track your spending. Here is the whole post on step 3. Print your basic budget worksheet right here.
Then, take whatever money is left and divide it between your remaining expenses (gas, food, etc.) If you are lucky enough to have a balance after all that, it’s extra “fun money” and can be divided however you see fit into categories like eating out, home decor fund, weekends away or whatever your jam is!
After your mandatory expenses have been taken out and you have set aside the amount you want to save, you can subtract your voluntary expenses like cable and cell/data plans. Whether it is or not, paying off debt should be a high priority in your monthly budget. If you have debt you should have a plan to pay it off and this might be a higher priority than saving, at first. This is the point where you decide how much you want to save each month. Take your gross monthly income and then subtract from it all your mandatory expenses. Print your free financial plan worksheet right here. (By the way, do you know about SMART goals?) This is why it is helpful to establish a general financial plan first and then break that down into more defined steps that will help you attain your broader goals. Keep in mind that there are multiple ways to achieve a goal, and everyone’s goals will be different. Short-term goals should be the most specific.
Step 1: Make a financial plan that is right for you. Here is the whole post on step 1.Īn ideal family or personal plan should have short term (1-2 years), mid term (5-10 years) and long term (20+ years) goals. It can be overwhelming just getting started, so we’ve broken down “how to start a budget” into three steps. It was actually one of the first series’ we ever did, and the content stays true, but we’ve decided that we should revive those ideas and do a new post on basic budgeting with free worksheets to help you get moving if you’ve never budgeted before! I also added two of my favorite Dave Ramsey quotes on the bottom of them for a little extra motivation. Hey you guys! There was once upon a time that we discussed how to start a budget here on this lil blog.
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