New Year, New Budget
For the last several years, we have used a monthly checklist to keep track of our investment balances and expense costs. I prefer to hand-write some of it, so I print off my bill paying checklist every month and use it as I pay off the bills. This year though, I’m starting a yearly budget so we can get a better look at where we are spending the most, areas we may be able to cut back on, and to see how much “leftover” money we might be able to have after all of our main expenses have cleared.
Here’s how to create one for yourself:
You can start with my template here.
1. Enter in your monthly paycheck amount(s) at the top. The grand total of your take-home pay should total to the annual amount at the far right.
2. Make a listing of your monthly bills – rent/mortgage, utilities, loans, phone/internet, food, etc. Refer to the previous year’s utility costs and log in estimated numbers for the upcoming year.
3. That will total up to the amount you have left over after those are paid.
4. In the bottom portion, fill in large one-time expenses throughout the year. For us, we usually have car insurance that is due both in February and August, we have road trip expenses every few months, and we pay an accountant to do our taxes each year.
5. Those will total up to the grand total amount that you will have leftover (or will be in the negative) once those have paid. That may alert you that you have to plan several months in advance for some of those one-time expenses.
6. Maintain it! Update this document monthly (or multiple times a month if you are also tracking things like groceries).
*Note: there are some great online tools you can use for budgeting and monthly expense categorizing so find a system that works the best for you.
Posted from my blog with SteemPress : http://simplycaroline.blog/new-year-new-budget/