How do I go about making a budget for my personal finances?Any money mangement tips?

Question

any helpful websites.

Answer 1

I use Excel. I've tried other programs, but if it's too difficult, it will be tough to stick with it.

Here's how mine goes.

Income, Fixed Expenses, Variable Expenses, Bottom Line. Fixed expenses aren't truly fixed, but expenses that you can't significanly control with behavior - groceries, utility bills, auto gas, insurance, etc. Variable expenses are things that I can control - retail, eating out, etc.

I charge everything I can on my credit card (and pay it off at the end of the month), this way, I can just look at my statement at the end of the month and easily see where everything went. I used to save receipts and categorize them - too much work. Keep the categories broad and drill down if you see a problem.

money.cnn.com has a lot of good personal finance articles, calculators and how-tos

Good luck.

Answer 2

It's common sense. Tho no one lives by the very basic of finance in this day....Which is: One must earn, more than one spends.

1. List your wage.
2. List all your bills, and when they're due.
3. If possible, pay yourself first each payday (A set amount into
savings, IRA, or whatever)
4. Have a major credit card to establish credit.
5. Acquire only one credit card, which has NO annual fee
6. Request the monthly payment due date for your convenience
7. Charge ONLY what you're able to pay OFF monthly.
Thus you never have interest fees.
8. NEVER charge over your limit, thus no fees there either
9. ALWAYS pay all bills on time or before, to build your good
credit, and to again, avoid interest fees.
10. If you have any kind of revolving payment accounts open,
pay them off.
Stick to your budget. And you will be proud and able to reward yourself!

Answer 3

Get the book Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey.
He is a great person to listen to on talk radio and his books are great also. Here in Texas the schools even show the 8th graders Dave Ramsey videos to prepare them for their future with personal finance.

Answer 4

Add up all your expenses for the month, then every paycheck put enough away to cover them and the rest into a savings account you don't touch in no time you will have saved quite a bit of $$. But you need to watch your extra spending and take it easy on the credit card.♥

Answer 5

Make sure you know what your job is worth in the marketplace, by conducting an evaluation of your skills, productivity, job tasks, contribution to the company, and the going rate, both inside and outside the company, for what you do. Being underpaid even a thousand dollars a year can have a significant cumulative effect over the course of your working life.

Answer 6

Get software such as Microsoft Money. Keep it up to date. Set goals and see where your money goes and where to cut back. It works if you are strict with yourself.