ManageMyBudget

The Better Budgeting Guide - Smart Budgets Secrets
By Zuberr Nowrung

A budget is simply a money plan to help you achieve your financial goals. By setting your financial objectives, you can well-regulate your finances, and make advance decisions as to how your money will function well for you. There’s nothing more we want than to be able to efficiently manage our money.

A budget on which you take action properly, should help you see where your money is going, and get more out of every penny you spend. Hence, you can put aside money for expected as well as unexpected costs in future.

The first smart secret to a budget is to set a goal. Ask yourself what do you want to achieve? Do you want to save some money aside for a big investment? By having a financial goal, you can shape your budget plan to best achieve it. It is also a good idea to find out how long will your compensation last, for example, define fixed expenses (like car payments, home rental, etc). Understand and identify where your funds are going by tracking your monthly expenditures. Determine your own spending patterns and find out some solutions.

The next smart budgeting secret is to take note of where your money usually goes. This includes bills and everyday purchases. Suppose you have a steady monthly income of $4,000, you should subtract all your identified monthly bills from that income. The remaining balance after subtracting the costs can be your budget in the household.

When you list down where your money usually goes you will be able to identify which expenses you can do without. Allocating money for miscellaneous expenses like gas, clothing, entertainment and groceries should use proportions or percentages of of your budget. Once you’ve identified these regular expenditures, take into consideration what you can cut back on.

What are your small daily expenditures (like coffee and newspapers)? These measly $2 or $5 cumulatively adds up to a lot more per year! You will be surprised at how much you will saving out of your older budget in this way. Budgeting will best work when very scarce omissions are made to greater limits, abide by it as much as you possibly can.

If you have any debts, that is continuous payments that you are talking about, plus huge interest rates. Make it a must to pay the minimum on all of your debts in order to avoid paying late fees. If you have any cash excesses, you can choose to add on to the payments of your debts. You will not believe how much you will get off your huge debts when you better manage the payments.

Some more tips on how to budget:

1. Have good sense of money management. You should have the right attitude and be ready to compromise and know the significance of reducing expenditures.
2. Make plans for everything involving money. Make a listing with your earnings to one side and your overheads on the other side.
3. Learn to differentiate between luxuries and necessities.

Budgeting is an effective and fundamental tool that everyone should consider and will eventually benefit from it. You can make use of computer cash management programs as well for more efficiency in tracking your monthly budgeting.

Take control of your money today:
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Your comments are much appreciated.

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By Cheryline Lawson

Planning a budget for your personal finance is very important to feeling secure and being financially stable especially in the current economic climate. It stands to reason that you should have some kind of monetary stash put away for a rainy day. A lot of people don’t look at their personal finance until they get in trouble with credit and debt. At that time, it may be far-reaching and more difficult to get back on track. However, if you aspire to reach financial health, part of the process is to gather all the knowledge you would need to start planning your finances wisely.

Your first step to take is to find out what your exact expenses are for each month. These expenses will include your electric bill, phone bill, car payment, car insurance, credit card bills, mortgage or rent, cable bill, cell phone bill, college loan (if any), and other incidentals. Your incidental bills could include gas for your car, shopping, going out to dinner, nightly entertainment, groceries, and anything else that you consistently spend money on each month. Put all of these bills on a spreadsheet or create a specific journal to make your entries.

The next thing is to match your income against all these expenses and see what you can cut out or limit each month. You have to do this if you want to have some money each month to put aside in a savings account. I am sure you have heard about the concept “pay yourself first.” What this means is that you should have a certain amount each week or each month to put aside in a specific account and you should not stray away from this habit. You are not breaking the bank, but steadily gaining momentum with your savings when you put money in each week or month. It will also give you a sense of security and balance. No one knows when disaster will strike, but one thing we know is that it will, so you have to be prepared for the worst.

Take control of your debt. Stop over spending. If you can’t pay for something using cash, then this means that you are unable to afford it in the first place. Don’t let your credit card put you in bondage. You will forever be a slave to the credit card companies that want to hold you hostage for years to come. Cut up some of the credit cards that you have and only keep one. When you have one, you have fewer options.

Track your spending. Take a little notebook with you to store or keep your receipts and make note of all your spending. You would be surprised that some of your spending is futile and unnecessary when you see it on paper. Before you go to the grocery store each week, write a list and take it with you and don’t go to the store when you are hungry. If you follow these two steps, you will not do any kind of impulse shopping. You will spend wisely and only buy the things you really need.

You are in control of your financial destiny so be the dictator and do not let a financial institution tell you how to spend your money. The financial ball is now in your court.

Writer and author, Cheryline Lawson gives high accolades to Fernando Reyes, who is an Internet Marketing guru and expert in a variety of fields including finance and you are invited to find out more by visiting the website at => http://crowleybiz.com/finance

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One of the most important financial decisions you will ever make is learning how to make a personal budget. The reason it is so important is it gives you control of your money and tells it what to do. If you are living paycheck to paycheck your money is not working for you, it’s working for all your creditors and making them rich. Wouldn’t it be nice to turn that around and make yourself rich instead?

Here’s what a personal household budget does for you. It allows you to track your income and expenses and shows you where your expenses are more then they need be. This allows you to make informed decisions about how you spend your money and what you need to do to ensure that your future is financially sound.

If you have never made a personal budget before here are 7 steps which will help you get started. Before we start get a notebook and make two columns, one for income and one for expenses.

1. You will need your last three months of pay stubs. Add the total net pay and divide by three. This will give you your average income per month. Write that in the income column. Be sure to include all your income sources.

2. This same formula applies to your monthly expenses. Gather up your last three months of bills, credit card statements, and any other expenses you have. It is also a good idea to go through your checkbook register so you don’t miss anything. Get an average for each category and then add them all up and write that number down at the bottom. This will give you a good starting point.

3. Here’s the moment of truth. Subtract the total expenses from the total income and see where you stand. If your expenses are greater then your income you have some work to do.

4. Look over your budget closely and start targeting expenses that seem frivolous. Your budget should allow you to start freeing up money that can be put to better use.

5. You can also start prioritizing which expenses and debts need to be paid first. Note payments made on your budget so that you can easily track how you are spending your money.

6. As your budget evolves you can start using it to further refine your financial plan. Savings accounts, retirement plans, and investments can all be managed from it.

7. Be patient when you first get started. Your first budget will be more of a rough draft for future budgets. It normally takes a good three months before you will start to get your budgeting process dialed in.

The most important step to make a personal budget is to just get started. Putting it off and procrastinating just delays securing your financial well being. Patient persistence is the key to taking back control of your money and once you do a budget will be a permanent part of your life.

About the author:
To learn more about how to make a personal budget please visit the website Household Budgets by clicking here.

That dreaded word “Budgeting.” What people really dread is their having to think about their expenses and further using their brain to put together a list of all those expenses. What if you had some help? What if you were jumpstarted with a list of common expenses that you could assign dollar amounts to?

This article is designed to provide you with a framework for gathering your monthly, semi-annual and yearly obligations. You may also use it as a check-off as you pay each bill.

Let’s see how this works.

Monthly Obligations

Monthly obligations are expenses whose payments recur on a monthly basis. Some of these types of expenses are likely candidates for automatic bill payment. Those include critical obligations that may cause hardship if payment is not paid as agreed such as a mortgage payment or a car note. Depending on the individual, what constitutes hardship will vary. Look at your own circumstances and determine what is most important to you.

Below includes some of the most common monthly expenses. Add up all these expenses. Then compare what your outgoing amount is compared to what you bring home in your pay check. Whatever is left is referred to as discretionary income. Discretionary income is what is left after your essential expenses have been taken care of.

Not every expense listed below qualifies as an absolute essential. If you need to cut back on your expenses, the first place to look is at what is not essential. One example is the Cable TV bill. If you don’t want to cut it off completely, you have the option of reducing the services and hence reduce your monthly bill.

Expense

• Cable TV
• Car Note
• Cell Phone
• Charity or Tithe
• Child Care
• Credit Card 1 (minimum payment)
• Credit Card 2 (minimum payment)
• Credit Card 3 (minimum payment)
• Elder Care
• Electricity, Home
• Food
• Gas, Home
• Gas, Vehicle
• Health Insurance Premium
• Life Insurance Premium
• Medication
• Mortgage Note
• Personal Fund (movies, DVDs, outings, restaurant)
• Semi Annual Fund (see Semi-Annual and Yearly Obligations below)
• Savings Opportunities (see Savings Opportunities
  below)

$ Total Expenses

Semi-annual and Yearly ObligationsSemi-annual and yearly obligations are expenses that do not have to be paid on a monthly basis. Even though the bill is not due regularly, you still need to set aside funds to cover the expense when the payment date arrives. Once you enter all of this category’s amounts, divide that amount by twelve. This gives you the amount you should be putting aside monthly for your semi-annual fund.

Listed below are some most common semi-yearly and yearly expenses. Don’t hesitate to add new ones as these may jog your memory of other expenses that apply to you.

Expense

• Car Insurance Premium
• Car Maintenance Fund (Emissions test, state inspection, four new tires, oil change, 20k mile maintenance)
• Clothing
• Heating and Air Maintenance
• Household Products (Toilet paper, napkins, paper towels, cleaning fluid, etc.)
• Life Insurance Premium
• Odd & Ends (stamps, envelopes)
• Pet Expenses (food/medical)
• Property/Land Taxes
• Utilities (water/sewer/refuse)
• Vacation Fund
• Vehicle Property Taxes

$ Total Expenses

$ Total Expenses divided by 12 months (i.e. 3000/12=$250) (enter above on Semi Annual Fund line)

Savings Opportunities

In addition to identifying your steady expenses, you should note there are savings related opportunities that can be treated as expenses. Home repairs, Christmas presents or personal savings in general are among a few. Although, many Americans do not actively save like they did decades ago, this doesn’t mean you can’t start now. After you complete your budget, if you find that you have surplus discretionary income available, take the opportunity to allocate some of those funds to a personal savings. If you have not established a Christmas fund through automatic deposit, this is your opportunity to set aside money to help ease the burden of end-of-year expenses. Leap into the New Year Christmas-debt free. If you have a home, you should expect home repairs at some time or another. Be proactive and set aside funds to help make unexpected home repairs less painful to your budget.

Savings Vehicle

• Personal Savings Account
• Home Repair Fund (new roof, replace faucet fixture, replace toilet, clean
  chimney)
• Christmas Fund

$ Total Savings

$ Total Expenses divided by 12 months (i.e. 3000/12=$250 (enter above on Savings Opportunity line)

I hope this helps in your journey to building a relevant budget.

Favorable Tip:

If you have outstanding credit card balances. You may seek to reduce your monthly payments by moving your high interest credit balances to a new lower interest credit account.

About the author:
Phelicia researches and writes about financial topics that affect our everyday lives. She and her husband actively maintain a website which provides all types of major credit cards to meet your financial needs. For more information, please visit our website at http://byldab.newcreditapplications.com

Budgeting is Important

Household budgeting is an important part of your family’s financial security and success.   Learning the basics of budgeting money will help you save money for the future.  Teaching kids about budgeting is a big responsibility that all parents should take seriously.  Personal finance budgeting will give you confidence and security as you learn the budgeting process.  Budgeting tools such as budgeting software or even online budgeting can help provide a budgeting system or online budget planning that will greatly help you.  Home budgeting can help you prepare for retirement, save for a vacation, or have the money necessary to do home improvements.   Basic personal budgeting should be an important part of everyone’s regular routine.   Making a family budget will help the whole family get involved.  There are many types of budgets.  Start simple and get more complex as you get better.  Making a budget isn’t hard.  Making a monthly household budget is a great way to get started.  If all you can do is make a personal budget, then just do that.  A budget will help you manage your cash flow.  You can often recover 10% of your income from hidden spending.

 Tips on Budgeting

Budgeting 101 should always include the idea that you spend less than you earn and that you are smart about what you do with the difference.  Home budgeting software can help you find places to save money by helping you see where you spend your money and helping you analyze your money spending habits.   Make sure to teach your kids how to keep a personal budget and help them learn how to use a personal budget software program if it will help them.   

When you make a budget, be sure to consider all your expenses.  Include monthly expenses and annual expenses (like car registration).  Include occasional expenses (such as car repair bills).    Also consider all your income.  If you find that you have more expenses than income, will can only do one of two things.  Reduce your spending or increase your income.  There are lots of ways to do both of these.  We’ll provide information to help you accomplish this.  Always work towards the goal of saving a little bit each month, even if it is only $10.  

If both parents work, make sure to base your budget on only one income.  The other income should be used to save and to pay down debt. 

How to Start Budgeting

If you aren’t sure where to start budgeting, start by writing down every penny that you spend for a week.  See where it goes.  Save all your receipts so that you can analyze your spending habits.  You will probably be surprised at how you are spending money.  Careful budgeting will help control that.

Make sure to update your budget regularly.  A budget is a plan, so you need to keep your budget current.  Review it each month for your monthly expenses and review it each annually for those annual expenses.

There are lots of budgeting tips.  We’ll be adding many as we add to this site.  If you aren’t sure how to make a budget, we’ll be giving tips on making a household budget.  Be sure to check back often. 

Budgeting Software

There are many home budgeting software programs that are available. Look for personal budgeting software programs that will help you track what you earn and how you spend the money.  Envelope budgeting is a great system and envelope budgeting software programs are available.  Some of them even provide online budgeting management or free online budgeting so that you have access to your budget from anywhere.  Personal budgeting software can help each member of your family keep track of their spending. 

Some software programs and more than just budgeting programs and provide complete complete money management.  There are even free money management software programs or free budget software, although they will usually not have all the features that you want to have in order to adequately track your budget.   There are personal money management programs that will provide just personal money management, while others will help you track your entire household budget.   Some of the budgeting software tools include:

• The Mvelopes Personal budgeting software program is a very good tool  It allows you to manage and control your budget online
• The Budget Map  — This is a unique budgeting system that gives you the ability to easily track all of your expenses through the month using a checkbook register that is specially designed
• My Budget Planner– This is a software program that is very easy to use.  You can download this program to your computer and then use while either while online or offline. You can also get this software in versions that are made especially for kids and teens

Budgeting Tools

Finding a good budgeting tool can be helpful.  In addition to home budget software programs and there are many other tools available to help learn how to budget.  They include:

• budget forms
• budget worksheets
• budget template
• budget planner
• free printable budget worksheets
• monthly budget worksheets
• free home budget spreadsheets
• sample household budget forms
• free budget template
• free budget worksheets
• free budgeting worksheets
• free budgeting sheets
• free budgeting template
• budgeting lesson plans
• home budgeting forms
• basic budgeting worksheet
• dealing with debt worksheet
• monthly spending worksheet
• annual budget worksheet
• holiday budgeting worksheet
• online budget calculator
• online budget software
• online budgeting tools
• online personal budgeting

There are many things you can do help help you manage your money.  Budget your money is the first step to help you control your spending.   Make sure to visit here regularly for budgeting tips, budgeting articles, budgeting information, budgeting tools, and budgeting help.  Learning how to budget and manage spending is important.   Frugal budgeting will help you achieve your financial goals.