I feel it is always better to write it down to keep track on your personal finance so that you can manage it better. you can just pen it down on paper or yo can maintain an Excel sheet for it ..... it is your choice. _________________ Good is the Enemy of Great.
I want to thank all three of you for quite a quick response. I think that using the excell spreadsheet is something that I want to try and I have it on my computer, I will just have to read up on how to use it. thank you all for all your input.
You can actually use a combination of both, if you can master the excel program, you can title and set it up and print off the worksheets that you can use.
You can do a simple budget on word which is a lot less complicated to use, try that and see if it serves your purpose. You can print off any of these.
You can also google budget sheets but they have a lot of catagories that I don't use on them.
Good idea, I think that word document and program would be much easier to use. I think that I will use it and print off the sheets, I can put in my own catagories and titles. I appreciate everything you guys added to the thread.
I still pay bills with checks and use microsoft money for household and quicken for business. This allows me to see everything and run reports to see where my money is going. I am not so much a budget type but I do pretty good at making sure I have more money than bills........
Brian _________________ Licensed Broker 50 states http://www.aimwithfocus.com
Need quick advise email or PM Glad to help
A personal budget is a finance plan that allocates future personal income towards expenses, savings and debt repayment. Past spending and personal debt are considered when creating a personal budget.
To start a budget, you will need to define fixed expenses such as car payments, mortgages, insurance, rentals, etc. You will also need to know how much you living expenses cost on a monthly basis, by keeping track of the expenses from the past few months. This will give you a solid estimation of your usual monthly expenses. After you research and calculate these numbers, you can plan a family budget. Below are some tips to assist you in planning and implementing a successful budget for your family:
1) Take into account miscellaneous expenses that may occur during the month. Some expenses may occur car repair, home repair, or something else that may come up without knowing. Most family budgets do not take into account for these factors, but they do happen, and you should be prepared for them.
2) Make sure you have a positive attitude. You must understand that you need to make compromises during the month. This involves a lot of sacrifice so as to reduce your expenditures and have more money for savings. If you sacrifice now, you will see many long term rewards and benefits.
3) Have a record book with your earnings recorded on one side and your expenses on the other side. Good record keeping is the key to keeping a solid budget.
4) Make sure you know the differences between necessities and luxury items. Make a list of what you think are luxuries, such as restaurants, new clothes, and LCD televisions. Refer back to this list whenever you are tempted to buy and spend items in the list. This will remind you that it is not a necessity and you can live without it.
5) You can have fun with little or no spending at all. You can do numerous activities that will cost you nothing at all, such as walking in the park. You may even enjoy these activities more than the expensive ones.
Budgeting should be a part of your daily life, but should not conduct your entire lifestyle. You and your family should be able to enjoy life, and be able to do the activities you want to do. These tips will help you plan and implement a proper budget to help your family save money, and make you money in the long run. _________________ Financial consultant with a credit counseling concentration.
wow Jason what a great post, you have covered it all from beginning to end, kind of a little quick guide to budgeting.
I like how you stress that budgeting is a daily chore, this is so true. A good budget requires daily attention and discipline. thank you for a great post.
erb1953
