Budgets Aren't Intimidating!

And they are crucial. It may seem like a daunting task, but with the right tools you can sit down and make yourself a budget in about a half hour. Regardless of whether you live paycheck-to-paycheck or make much more than you spend, you should always follow a budget. With the help of Microsoft Excel, it is quick and easy to make a spreadsheet of all your monthly expenses. I recommend making a simple, 3 column sheet. Include one column for bills, one for the amount, and one for the due date. Here is an example:

BILLS AMOUNT DUE DATE

Rent / Mortgage $ 1st of the month

Car Payment $ etc

Car Insurance $ etc

Cable / Internet $ etc

Renters Insurance $ etc

Electric Bill (variable) $ etc

Gas Bill (variable) $ etc

Water Bill (variable) $ etc

Phone Bill $ etc

Credit Card 1 $ etc

Credit Card 2 $ etc

In a separate spreadsheet, you will also want to calculate expenses that aren't "bills" per se, but aren't expenses that can be avoided. This will include things like gas and groceries. Here is an example:

EXPENSE AMOUNT FREQUENCY

Gas $60.00 Per month

Groceries $300.00 Per month

Then, off to the side of this, you will want to indicate your income per paycheck, and also per month. A calendar will come in handy here to break up your bills by due date in accordance with your pay days.

Once you have all of this information laid out in front of you, all that's left to do is some simple math. Add up your monthly expenses, and subtract them from your monthly income. With this amount, break it into 4 parts and give yourself a weekly "allowance." For those who are able to, you should also factor in an amount per month to be placed into a savings account or emergency fund.

So, lets say that when you subtract your expenses from your income, you have $500 left. You can put $100 of this into a savings account, and give yourself a $100/week allowance to do with as you wish!