If your income isn’t enough to cover the list of fixed expenses, you’ve already got major issues to worry about! If you’re in that situation, you’ll need to increase your income or begin decreasing your expenses. Look at the total of your fixed expenses list and compare it to your total monthly income. Most people have fixed income in the form of a salary, but if your income is variable, you’ll need to take the average income for each month as accurately as you can. Take a look at your notebook for all sources of incoming money. Doing this for all expenses possible will help you budget more accurately. For example, if you have quarterly expenses, you can take the total paid annually and divide by 12 months to figure out how much it costs you on a monthly basis. You can make many of your variable expenses a fixed expense if you pay the same each year. Your variable expenses are those which fluctuate from month to month, and may include your car insurance, food, gas, medical, utilities, entertainment, children-related expenses, emergencies, and credit card payments. Your fixed expenses are payments that are the same each month, and generally include your rent or mortgage, taxes, car payment, and loan payments. Once your tracking period has ended, go through your notebook and create a list of fixed expenses on one page and a list of variable expenses on another page.
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Note: Our favorite FREE personal finance app is Personal Capital, which allows you to track your spending, income, expenses, and investments in a free, easy to use platform. You can also choose to use more advanced tools including desktop or online money management programs such as Personal Capital, Quicken, or. You can start with something as basic as a pen and paper, or a simple budget spreadsheet on Excel of Google Docs. There are many ways to keep track of your income and spending. This close look at your finances might change the way you think about debt. Be sure to jot down all sources of income for this time period, including pay checks and any other sources of incoming money. For two to three months, keep a notebook and jot down everything you spend money on from bill paying to entertainment to the pack of gum at the corner store.
#Best spreadsheets for monthly budget how to
Here’s how to Create a Household Budget: Keep Track of Money for 3 Monthsīefore you can accurately set up a household budget, you need to have a good understanding of what you’re spending your money on. Without a proper paper or electronic budget spreadsheet, it will become impossible to express how the finances work. Even if just one spouse/partner controls the cash flow each month, everyone in the family old enough to tackle family finances also needs to take an active participation in family budgeting. For some people who are putting the data down for the first time, they actually experience shock at just how much they are spending and how much money they don’t really have.Ī written budget is also an essential part of family finances. By using a template version of a budget, you can customize the information to meet your needs.īy putting all of your financial data on paper, you actually get a true visual picture of the facts of your finances. It can be easy to overlook certain aspects of your finances so if you are not confident you can map out a proper budget, there are many budgeting worksheets available that provide popular categories of expenses you may forget. A budget spreadsheet is very simple to develop but in order for it to be effective, you must supply it with the right information. It should be an interactive tool you use faithfully to determine your every money move. Here’s how to Create a Household Budget:Ī budget is more than a list of numbers.
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