Creating a Viable Budget

Have you struggled in the past to create a budget, but you unfortunately find yourself being unable to stick to it? If so, you're not alone. Many people find it difficult when it comes to compiling, planning, and sticking to a personal budget. However, you can easily and quickly set up a budget that is relatively easy to stick to if you follow a few basic steps.

1. Examine and Determine Your Total Income

When planning a budget, it is important to know just how much you bring in each month. If you are beginning a new job, it is a good idea to use your calculator to multiply your hourly, daily, or weekly wage out to determine just how much you make in a month's time. Then look at any additional income that you might have from various sources like interest from investments, child support, alimony, or other income streams. Once you have a good idea of your total monthly income, then you can begin the next stage of planning your personal budget.

2. Obtain All of Your Financial Statements

In the process of planning your budget it is imperative that you have all of your financial statements together before you can plan out what your expenses are. You need to look at everything such as utility bills, bank statements, investment account statements, mortgage statements, and other regular bills so that you can create a monthly average of what you are spending. By doing this, you will begin to be able to see where your cash is going each month and find ways to plan exactly what you will need for each expense.

3. Delineate Your Fixed Expenses

Putting together any realistic budget requires that you examine those items that do not change from one month to the next. These expenses are usually what one pays on a car payment, c...

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...e tips, you can easily and quickly lay down a working budget that will help you to lay the foundation needed to be financially successful. An important thing to remember with any budget is that the key to financial success is not so much how much money you make, but what you do with that money. If you are able to adapt, improvise, and overcome your financial obstacles on a regular basis thanks to your budget, then you will soon find that your savings are growing and the headache of not having enough to meet your expenditures has lessened.

Sources

Miriam Caldwell, “How to Set Up a Budget,” About.com

http://moneyfor20s.about.com/od/budgeting/ht/budget_setup.htm

Jeremy Vohwinkle, “How to Create a Budget,” About.com

http://financialplan.about.com/od/budgetingyourmoney/ht/createbudget.htm

“Create a Personal Budget,” Mint.com

https://www.mint.com/budget/