How to Budget (for people who hate to)
Posted by Mary Caraccioli | Filed under Budget
Budgets can be intimidating. You think you need to be proficient with a spreadsheet and be great at math. Worse yet, I hear from folks that they don’t do budgets because they are too restrictive and will prevent them from living their dream. I want to tell you that none of those things are necessarily true.
Creating a budget can be done on a piece of paper with a pencil and grade school addition and subtraction made even easier with a calculator. And as far as being restrictive, I see it differently; budgets empower you to live the life you want by forcing you to prioritize.
I created a budget for the Lafferty family, who we featured on my new show “We Owe What?” and showed them that a budget allows them to but their priorities- their kids- first.
The basic function of a budget is to help you manage the money you have. First you take stock on what is coming in, and then you divvy it up (hopefully with a little left over). Put the things that matter the most to you first- the stuff you don’t want to give up.
Often we put the fun stuff at the end of a budget – I say of something is truly important to you put it first. You can add the necessities next and then everything else. I have included the Lafferty budget below so you can get an idea of how to create one for yourself.
Put your estimate in month exp and the actual amount in once you know it. The difference is the amount over or under your estimate. It will help you make a better estimate next time!
| Income | Monthly Exp | Actual Amount | Difference | ||||
| Amy’s Wages | |||||||
| Matt’s Wages | |||||||
| OT/Bonus | |||||||
| Misc Income | |||||||
| Inc Subtotal | |||||||
| Expenses | |||||||
| Mortgage | |||||||
| Home ins | |||||||
| Prop Taxes | |||||||
| Home Maint | |||||||
| Electric | |||||||
| Nat Gas | |||||||
| Water | |||||||
| Car Payment | |||||||
| Gasoline | |||||||
| Tolls | |||||||
| Car ins | |||||||
| Car Maint. | |||||||
| Home phone | |||||||
| Cell Phones | |||||||
| Cable | |||||||
| Internet | |||||||
| Groceries | |||||||
| Eating out | |||||||
| Clothes | |||||||
| Clothes | |||||||
| health beauty | |||||||
| Baseball | |||||||
| Hockey | |||||||
| Cheerleading | |||||||
| other activities | |||||||
| Loans | |||||||
| Credit cards | |||||||
| Pet food | |||||||
| Pet care | |||||||
| Medical | |||||||
| General Savings | |||||||
| Retire Savings | |||||||
| College Savings | |||||||
| Emergency fund | |||||||
| Other | |||||||
| Gifts | |||||||
| Vacation | |||||||
| Entertainment | |||||||
| Exp Subtotal | |||||||
| Surplus/Shortage | |||||||
Tags: abc, mary caraccioli, we owe what. livewelltv
