Simple Budget

Putting it all together- First add up totals for the month

Collect all the material you’ve compiled from tracking your money and add up the totals of different items for the month. For example you will probably have to add up things like grocery money spent, eating out/fast food, gas, coffee, etc. items that were recurring throughout the month.

Things you won’t have to add up will probably be Rent, utilities, child care etc. These are items that are usually paid once a month

If you don’t have access to a calculator, click here for an online calculator.

If you would like an excel spreadsheet that will come up with the totals for you click here.

Once you have the totals you can start filling out or create your budget

Remember all the money you’ve received will become your INCOME for the month and all the money you’ve spent will become your EXPENSES for the month

There’s many ways you can create a Budget, every family and individual is unique on how they choose to spend their money, no two budgets are the same.

You are always welcomed to write out your own budget on a piece of paper if that is your preference. Below are two templates you can use to create your budget.

• On the left is Word Document you can either print out and write on or type into. Note that you will have to do the calculations yourself.

• On the right is a Excel Spreadsheet that you can type into, and will do all the calculations for you!

Here’s what they both look like:

To Download the Document Budget Click Here To Download the Excel Budget Click Here

Note: There is plenty of Resources on the internet that offer different templates on how to create a budget, if these two options AREN'T for you, DON'T worry, THERE'S apps you can download, different templates you can download, or you can even create one yourself!

Final Step- the last part of the budget

Once you’ve created your budget and you’re looking at the numbers its produced, how do you use this new information to start saving money?

First

You need to make sure that your balance number is either a positive number or 0, this means you're either already saving a little each month or just barely making it through to the next. Your next step will be looking at all your expenses. What are some thing you can cut out next month or a few months, maybe do without for a year, or forever?

A rule of thumb would be looking at the expenses that are considered the “little things” , for example:

• Fast food/eating out (Cooking at home can save some serious $$, check out the Meal planning and Saving tab for easy and cheap recipes)

• Entertainment (Do you need Netflix and Hulu and Disney + do you need Cable on top of those too? Probably not)

• Coffee (Make your own at home)

• Energy Drinks/Cigarettes (Now would be the best time to kick those habits)

You might even want to look around your area and see if there’s cheaper Rent and Child Care options. Check if you can switch to a cheaper Cell Phone plans as well. Downgrade your phone.

What if your balance is a negative number?

Don’t panic, but you need to immediately cut out some expenses.

The first to go should be eating out and fast food. Go to the tab labeled Meal Planning and Saving and download recipes you can make under $15, you’ll be able to save money right away by not spending money on fast food and restaurants.

Next would be, buying coffee each day, or energy drinks, find a cheap alternative for the month and stick with it.

Then finally cut out entertainment, if you subscribe to Netflix, Hulu, Spotify, Disney+, Amazon Prime. End those subscriptions for the month or just limit to one. All those videos and shows aren’t going anywhere, once you get back on to your feet you can re-subscribe but for now they are not a need, they are a WANT.

Most Important Part to REMEMBER

Once you’ve decided on what you’ll be cutting out, or back on, you can revisit your budget for the end of the next month and see how much you’ve saved! The hardest part of all of this is the cutting out, and STICKING WITH IT! You can make all the budgets in the world but you have to follow through with limiting yourself to the WANTS of spending and focusing on just the NEEDS and following through each month!

If at any point you need Help, or want someone to talk you through, call or email Bri Stoebe to set up a meeting or stop into our Office

Office: 270-753-0317

Email: bstoebe@mccunitedway.org

Location: 607 Poplar Street, Suite F Murray, KY 42071