How to Make a Personal Budget – Financial Maturity
January 28th, 2020 at 04:32 pmSo you are tired of having more bills at the end of the month then money and it just seems like you are in over your head every single month. Having more month then money is leaving you feeling financially frozen but defrosting the bitter coldness of being tight financially takes skill and know how. The skill is very easy to learn and once you know how, you can vow to live with financial maturity. Some find a personal budget to be restrictive but on the flip side it can be a very freeing practice for an individual looking to learn the ways of the wealthy. Being wealthy grows from the result of spending less than you earn. This is the first key to creating a personal budget. A common financial goal is to have money left over at the end of the month, but a bigger common mistake is not being proactive by way of keeping a personal financial budget. Not having a personal budget can leave you feeling financially frustrated because money can come and go blindly when there is no budget in place to monitor true necessities versus a wish list. To avoid the financial fumble of having money one minute and not having it the next a personal financial budget is the best way to conquer financial frustration. Financial budgets are the best way to be proactive in becoming financially emancipated.
When creating a personal budget it is important to be as detailed as possible and gather as much information necessary. Anyone can create a personal budget as long as the most important and simplest rule is followed, which is spending less money than you make. Playing financial housekeeper is a step toward financial freedom. This is why wealthy people are wealthy.
1. After all sources of income have been identified, it is very important that money, that has already been spoken for is taken out first. These are expenses that are the same cost month after month like car notes, mortgage, phone service, etc.
2. Collect all financial documents such as, bank statements, supplemental income sources and expenses. It is very important to understand how much money is available on an average.
3. Document all income including supplemental sources of income, being mindful that paychecks are tax deductible, so considering the take home pay is fine and record all of the income as one monthly amount.
4. Comprise a list of monthly expenses. Create a list that includes all of the expenses you plan to incur over the course of a month, such as a car payment, mortgage payment, auto insurance, groceries, utilities, entertainment, dry cleaning, retirement or college savings and basically everything you spend money on.
5. Categorize expenses into fixed and variable. Fixed expenses do not change and are the same month after month. They include expenses such as your mortgage or rent, car payments, cable, Internet service, credit card payments, etc. These expenses are part of your livelihood and for the most part will not change in the budget. Variable expenses do change month after month, and included items like eating out, grocery shopping, and entertainment. You must pay close attention to this category because it can fluctuate.
6. Total your monthly income and expenses to see if you have money left, or if you will need to cut back to fit the budget.
7. Once you have figured out all of your expenses, your anticipation is that the income and expenses are equal. Everything has been budgeted for specific expenses.
8. At this point if you noticed that expenses are greater than income you would review your variable expenses, and choose which items to cut back on in order to save some money.
The most important part of having a budget is to review it each month to make sure everything is good to go. When you review your budget you will identify where you are on track and where you need to make adjustments to get back on track.