I am rerunning this post today for those of you that want to start off 2013 with a budget. I have an awesome series that will start the first of February that will go even more in-depth into making a budget and making it work for your family. But for now, this is a great way to get started!
Having a budget is a critical way to keep your family’s finances in order. It doesn’t matter if you are Couponing to Disney, Couponing to Whatever or just Couponing to Coupon, you need a budget. There are lots of ways to make a budget, but here’s the easiest way I have found.
Step One
Take a piece of paper or a notebook and write down every single bill you have, the date the bill is due and the amount of the bill. It is best to put the list in order by due date (bills due on the 1st down to bills due on the 30th). Don’t forget the little things like Netflix, gym membership, etc. You might want to pull a couple month’s worth of bank statements to make sure you don’t miss a bill. Also for bills that fluctuate like power or water, write down the average amount of bill you expect to pay. Hopefully the bill will be less than you figure and you can put the difference in your fund!
Lower your existing bills (more here)
Step Two
Write down the bare minimum you must have for the following items:
- Groceries and Eating Out
- Gas
- Misc Expenses (like haircuts, oil changes, clothing, entertainment, after school sports, home repairs, etc)
Step Three
Write down all your paychecks, the date you get paid and the estimated amount for the next 6 months. If you aren’t on salary, write down the average amount of your paycheck. Just be sure you don’t over estimate!
Step Four
On a new piece of paper, start writing down your pay dates for the next 6 months and the amounts in columns. It should look something like this (the example is someone who gets paid every 2 weeks and makes $1,000 per paycheck):
June 1st ($1000)
(skip at least 10 lines)
June 15th ($1000)
(skip at least 10 lines)
and so on….
Step 5
Start with the amount you need for groceries and gas and deduct it from your paycheck.
Then start with bill #1 and write it under the paycheck that you will use to pay it. Write the amount of the paycheck that is left after paying the bill next to it. Like this:
June 1st ($1000)
Groceries – $300 ($700)
Gas – $100 ($600)
Water bill – $50 ($550)
Power bill – $150 ($400)
Insurance – $90 ($310)
Car Payment – $200 ($110)
Continue to do this for all your bills for the next 6 months. I know 6 months is a long time to think about, but you are going to feel great once you have this finished and you know how much money is left after you pay your bills.
And then you need to stick to your budget! That is the most important part about making a monthly budget.
Option
My husband gets paid every other Thursday. Instead of taking our mortgage out of one of his paychecks, I divided it in half and take half out of each of his paychecks. Because he has 26 paychecks and we only need the mortgage taken out of 24 of them, twice a year we get what I call a ‘bonus paycheck’. It happens to be timed just before summer and just before Christmas. I pretend like that money is going to the mortgage and still deduct that amount out of the checking account, but instead I spend it on whatever we need or save it.
Be sure to check out all the ways to add to your fund and how to get your finances in order…
Meranda H says
Thank you! Hubby has been out of work for over a year so this is just what I’ve been looking for!
Queenie says
What a great idea with the mortgage budgeting, when you lay it out that way (with the “bonus paycheck”, it’s a great incentive. Thanks for sharing!
Susan says
Anything will help. My husband has been out of work for 21 months and does not qualify for unemployment. Our expenses far outweigh our income.