Whats the best way to start a budget?

Answer 1

Bankrate.com
Saving when you're barely surviving
Monday August 28, 6:00 am ET
Don Taylor

Dear Dr. Don,
I am a husband and father of two young toddlers. My net pay is just enough to scrape by every two weeks. With health insurance premiums well over $400 per month, my net pay is only enough to cover the bills. Every time I set aside money, I end up having to use it all for some unforeseen expenditure, and then some with credit cards (whose balances continue to escalate). Where does one in my situation begin to save?
-- Underfunded Mike

Dear Mike,
Your question is one of the more difficult issues in personal finance. How do you work toward the future when you're having trouble getting through the week?
The key is to keep spending less than income. Easier said than done, but that doesn't mean it doesn't need to be done. Spiraling credit card balances aren't the answer. Credit cards just postpone the problem and have you spending money on finance charges that should be going toward meeting your family's needs.
Differentiate between what's necessary and what's nice in your monthly spending. Cutting out cell phones (or alternatively land lines), cable TV, dinners out, etc. brings down your monthly nut. Bankrate has a budget work sheet that you can download to put together a monthly spending plan. Talk to your employer's personnel department to see if there are ways of reducing the health-care costs while keeping family coverage. Taking advantage of flexible spending accounts to pay for medical costs with pretax dollars is one possible way of accomplishing this goal.
The other side of the equation is to increase income. Take a second job, or a third. Don't think of it as forever, just until you can get the credit card balances down and build a bit of a cash cushion. If your wife doesn't work, perhaps she should. Bankrate's "Should my spouse work, too?" calculator will help with that math.
The answers aren't easy, but you've got to ramp up income, throttle back on spending or both to get to the point where you move past paycheck-to-paycheck living and get to the point where your income is also building toward your family's future.
If you've worked through all this and still can't see a way, it's time to ask for help. Your state government might be able to help with health-care insurance for the children, for example. A Bankrate feature, "Finding help in hard times," has some other ideas, too.
To ask a question of Dr. Don, go to the "Ask the Experts" page, and select one of these topics: "financing a home," "saving & investing" or "money."

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Investopedia – Debt Consolidation
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Answer 2

The best way to start a budget is to first right down every expense you have. A good way is dividing by when they occur, like monthly, weekly, etc. Make sure recreation, etc. is included. Every place you spend a dime.

Then you list all of your income from whatever source and when it's received monthly etc.

You subtract the expenses from your income and that gives you your budget. Sometimes expenses are bigger than the income. Then you must either increase your income or cut back on your expenses. Don't forget to include savings as an expense.

Good luck!

Answer 3

The first step in starting a budget is to write all your bills down in ledger book. At the top of the page, list your take home pay. As you list all your bills make note of which ones will be paid out of the current check. If you'r paid twice a month, put a #2 by the bill you will be paying. After all the bills are listed you must also record what you spend you money on. Record all your spending for a week. After the week, sit down with your ledger and start subtracting the bills you will pay, and everything you spent money on for that week. If you dont have enough left out of your check, yes you need to budget. Making a budget is easy, its sticking to it that is very difficult. You will have to cut out/down on those weekly expenses in order to meet your weekly, monthly budget.

Answer 4

I use Microsoft excel (any spread sheet can be used) I then make rows going across starting with money in and money out. Then I list things I know I will spend eg mortgage,insurances,food,going out,house,bills savings etc. Then write everything you spend so if I spent £10 going out I would put it in that column. Then create a calculations for each column and a grand total at bottom of sheet, that way as you spend you know how much you got to spend. It took me a while to tweak but I find its the best option so I know to slow down on spending if need too. Do a separte for for each payday.

Answer 5

Write down everything that you have to pay out each month:

rent - light - heat - loan repayments etc - (outgoings)

then work out how much that you have - (income)

Hopefully, your income is slightly larger than your outgoings.
Then set aside the money for the outgoings and pay them on time.
Whatever you have left should be split into 4 and used for the other things that you need each week. Then maybe, there will be something left at the end of the month to save!

Answer 6

Write down every expense you have into a small notebook which you can carry in your back pocket or pocketbook. Each entry will have the date, type of purchase, purchase price and how purchased (cash, credit card). Transfer this information into a spreadsheet or a program like Microsoft Money on a weekly basis.

Answer 7

Use a spreadsheet like excel and track your every spending. You can catorgize it like...grocery, rent, light, heat, fun...etc. By catorgizing it every time you spend you'll be thinking where does this money come from?

And, remember with the money that is left over after your bills are paid. Pay yourself first and save some money.

My husband and I do this and it helps a great deal. Good Luck!

Answer 8

Try the budget on this website and see if this doesn't get you on the good foot.

Answer 9

list all your expenses and amounts
list all your incomes

you can do it in excel and carry it out on a monthly basis
or you can do it in works they have a budget template

Answer 10

list your income, the minimum of all your bills, then factor in your pleasure expenses. Then see what you have for extra payments, and/ or savings.