Budgeting?

Question

I need help putting a budget together. I have tried to look on the internet, but they all want me to pay for this. Can anyone help?

Answer 1

the best place to get infomation is form Dave Ramsey. He is the top finatle counsler out there and he does a radio show abotu this time every day.

Answer 2

Coming up with a budget is easy.

First thing you need to know is how much you make in a month (do it by the month because that's the cycle bills are paid)

Second make a list of EVERYTHING you need to pay out each month...include things like phone bill, car payment, an average grocery bill, cable...things that you pay every month...

Then take a look at your monthly income versus your monthly out put...if you spend more than you make, it's time to cut back...if you make more than you spend, set up a savings account...Yahoo finance has some great tips as well as thenest.com (a site for married couples, but finance is finance)

Good luck!

Answer 3

Not sure if you need help on budgeting or need a form..

1. Get out your checkbook
2. Make a list - one entry for every payee on your check stubs for the past month.
3. add up how much you paid each one for the month
4. Put your monthly income at the top and subtract.
5. If you get a negative number, then you have to cut back on your spending.

Answer 4

It's easy if your computer has a spreadsheet program, such as "Microsoft Excel" or "Lotus 1-2-3" (it's the kind of job it was designed for.
If not, try this for size:
http://www.thinkall.com/product_openoffice_about8.htm

To make a budget, the first thing you have to do is work out how much you earn in a month (4weeks), things such as:
- Wages
- Government benefits
- Other regular sources
then work out the final total...... easy if you enter put into the cell below the calculations "=" (without the quotation marks) followed by the cell numbers you want to work out, e.g. b2+b3+b4 (click on them, then add the + symbol after each one, then press ENTER when ur done).

The next task is to figure out monthly outgoing.... for things paid annually (12months) or Quarterly (3months), divide the figure to get the monthly total. Add things like:
- Electricity Bill
- Gas Bill
- Water Bill
- Phone Bill
- Weekly shopping (food, etc...... I usually guesstimate around £25-£50 a week)
- Internet Access
- Subscription to Satelite/Cable TV service
- TV License (if in the UK)
- Magazine / Newspaper Subscriptions
- Website subscriptions (e.g. HOTorNOT.com, etc)
- Loan payments
- Mortgage repayments
- Credit card repayments
- Rental fees
- Fuel for motor vehicle
- Regularly paid fares for public transport (e.g. bus/train to work)
- Car Insurance
- Home Insurance
- Travel Insurance
- Pet Insurance
- Other regular expenses
As before, below the last cell, put your total the same way as before. e.g.
=b9+b10+b11+b12+b13+b14+b15 (and so on until you've got them all added.... hit the ENTER button when you've got 'em all in)

Finally, in a seperate column on the spreadsheet (like maybe a couple of rows down), work out how much left over or fall short by. To do this, similar to working out the subtotals:
in the cell type
=*cell#incomings*-*cell#outgoings*
e.g. if the figure for how much money you have coming is in cell B6 and the figure for how much money you have being paid out on stuff is in column B37 for instance, the calculation you put in the cell would be:
=B6-B37

If you do it the the way I showed you, the totals will automatically update if you change any of the other figures.

Once you've got the regular ones out the way, once a month add together the cost other one off purchases... e.g. New watch, load of sweets, repair bills, new clothes, one off magazine purchases, anything else that springs to mind

Answer 5

You have to write things down. That is the key. just figure out how much money you have and how much are your bills and there you. as you pay each bill write down the date and the amount you paid. do that each month. use the calendar on yahoo too. when you get your bills add them to your calendar (when due and amount due). This works for me. If u have a checking account have your bills automatically deducted or use the on-line bill pay option.

Answer 6

I just write down on a peice of paper how much money I have, and when I get more, then list all the bills I need to pay in between. It works fine!

Answer 7

Make a list of all your expenses in two columns.
Left column name the expense, right column the amount of it.
Add them up and compare to your income - you may need to adjust and do so.
Look at it often for the first few monts to remind yourself where you want to be at the end of the month - you don't want more month than money!
get accustomed to it and live with it and you will be happy. There is gratification in meeting your expenses each month.

Answer 8

Consumer Credit Counseling is a non-profit. Many of their services are free. Others go toward paying their bills. http://www.cccsintl.org/

Answer 9

There's a lot of basic spreadsheets that you can download into Microsoft Excel that will help you get started. They're available online at microsoftoffice.com under templates.

Answer 10

type in "budgeting" on google.com

here are a few of the sites it pulls up.