You already know I’m about to start talking about the six-letter dreaded B-word, BUDGET. I wanna let you all know it’s not even that bad. I started asking around to see how many people actually budget their money. To my surprise, most of the people I asked said No. They replied with “I take out my bills, use what’s left, and when I get a good amount, I move it into my savings.” I immediately thought that’s crazy and they’re definitely wasting money! Some of these people weren’t in debt or anything, but they could be taking way more advantage of their earnings. Money goes like water in general, but without a budget, you have less control over your cash. There is no way you know exactly where your money is going.
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Old Me vs. New Me
When I was living at my parents’ house, I definitely wasn’t worried about a budget. I also had the “It’s only $1”, or “It’s only $5” mentality. Let me tell you that didn’t help either. Before I knew it, I was wasting about $10-$20 a day ($300-$600 a month) on crap because it was only $1! Yes, I was still saving money, but imagine how much money I could have saved keeping track of where my money was going. Times have def changed now because I am the budget Queen!!! At least my boyfriend calls me that anyway lol.
After I moved out, I accumulated a lot more bills and then when we bought a house the bills doubled! It was crazy! I’m not gonna lie doing the actual budget every month is not my favorite past time, but I’m a hot mess without it. Well, I’ve never actually tried to forgo the budget for a month, but I ain’t even trying that. I love the peace of mind it brings me to know exactly where every penny is going before I start spending my extra money.
How to Get Started with a simple budget
I actually look into budgeting on a national level, and www.Debt.com says only 32% of Americans budget! I thought the statistic would at least be 50%. Then it dawned on me that most people don’t know where to start or how to prepare a budget. To get started on a simple budget, I have three necessary steps that I use.
Step 1: Make a Monthly Expense List.
Bills are so overwhelming sometimes you’ve got to make a list. Here is a free, printable worksheet I’ve made to get you started. List ALL your bills that have a specific due date every month. Write in the date that it’s due, how much money it is every month and what type of bill it is. I also like to make the list it in order by what date it’s due. You only need to make this list once and possibly adjust it here and there if you get a new bill or get rid of one. This list will be the list you refer to every month to make your budget.
Step 2: Divide your Expenses
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Now that you have all your expenses, try to follow the 50/30/20 rule as best as you can. The 50/30/20 rule is that after taxes, 50% of your money is going to necessities, 30% on wants, and 20% on savings. Necessities include things that you need to survive like mortgage payments, gas, health insurance, etc. Wants are going out to dinner, a new handbag, a new phone or car upgrade. You should split your savings into an emergency fund or money tackling down debt, and a retirement plan or investments. With this information here you are better prepared to make your budget.
Step 3: Write out the actual budget.
In this worksheet here you can make your monthly budget. I have broken it up into 4 weeks so that for each week you can see what your total bills amount to and how much you have leftover. This works best for me because I like to see each week while budgeting for the whole month. It gives me more control over the budget.
I start by listing the week. For example, I get paid every Friday so I would put in July 5th-July 11th (2019 calendar) and the amount of income coming in that week. I get paid on Friday, July 5th, and I will list the bills due during the period of the 5th through the 11thfrom the monthly expense tracker worksheet. Then I add up the total amount of my bills and put it on the total line. Next, I subtract the total from my income that I wrote in at the top.
Whatever is leftover I put it in the extra column. This is the money you have leftover to save or use at your leisure. I then continue the previous steps in the next box starting with the next time I get paid, which is July 12th and list the bills from the 12th through the 18th. I keep going until the month is done. Some months you may need an extra box, and in that case, you can use an additional sheet.
That’s pretty much it! It might seem like a lot of work, but trust me. It’s way easier to know what you have to spend instead of spending money and avoiding your banking app. If you have any comments or questions, feel free to leave them below :).