Every household should have an active budget that is adjusted as financial needs change. Whether you are living on one income or multiple household incomes, whether you make thousands or millions, it really doesn’t matter. A budget is necessary to ensure that however much money you earn is allowing you to also save some for a future date. Today I wanted to share a few easy to follow budget setting tips so that you and your family can rest easy knowing that your income meets your needs.
Evaluate Expenses
This first step is the absolutely necessary first step to ensure you are able to create a budget. This part of the budget setting process will be difficult and can get ugly at times. You will work to put all expenses out there on the table. Personal, bills and business expenses will all be taken into consideration as you work to list out where the income is going. Make lists of items based on categories such as food, extras, wants, needs, utilities, etc. This will help you with the next few steps in setting a budget.
Evaluate Net Income
The next step to complete the process of setting up a budget without stress is to evaluate net income. This is the amount of money that actually comes back into the house after taxes or anything else that may be withheld from the paychecks. Make sure that every member of the household who is responsible for bills is a part of this evaluation. You will need an accurate net income number to ensure you can set a realistic budget for the entire household.
Make a Commitment
Now that you know what expenses and net income are, make a commitment to change. To help assist with staying true to your commitment, you can use a budgeting app. Research truebill reviews to see how they can help you budget better. Take into consideration the wants and extras that you put into a list on step one. Make a commitment to yourself and your household that you will not spend money on those items. There is no reason to get into arguments here with your partner, simply make a commitment that each of you will be more cautious about spending money on unnecessary things.
Evaluate Monthly Bills
Make a list of your weekly, monthly and annual bills. This must include every expense that is considered a bill. Don’t forget about the car insurance, the car payment, the dumpster bill or any other item that may seem small. Those little bills all need to be taken into consideration as part of the necessary expenses per month for the household. Subtract your monthly bills from the net income, see if you have any room with money afterward.
Make a Plan
Make a plan to ensure that the expenses will be reduced and make a visual chart that will assign a specific amount of money each week towards bills. If you have a visual post board of your budget so that everyone who is responsible for bills can see it, then the chances of creating a successful budget for your household will increase. If the income and bills don’t match up properly, meaning you are short on cash after considering the necessary bills, see if you can’t reduce those necessary bills so that your income truly can meet the needs of the household. As you work these steps into your day to day life and keep that visual reminder of the household budget up in plain sight, you will soon see that bills are paid in a timely fashion and everyone feels less stressed in the household.
These are nice tips. It’s so important to have a budget. It allows you to see where you are and where you need to be. 🙂
These are great tips. My husband and I are actually working on a budget for next year. We want to start paying off the credit cards.
All great and valid tips, I am going to be reviewing my 2018 budget and need to re-evaluate my expenditure.
These are important tips that we could all learn. I am trying to come up with a plan to improve our budget next year and these would help me.
My mom taught me a valuable lesson in saving when I got my first job. She said, “\When you get your pay check, divide it into three portions – money to pay bills, money to save, and money to spend. Always remember – save first then spend.” That practice always helped me keep track of my finances and keep within budget.
These are some great tips. Any change in income or bills requires a change in budget and I haven’t done my recent budget update so thanks for the reminder.
These are all great tips, thank you for sharing them! My husband and I have made it a goal for this coming year to really get our finances organized better, we have a lot of long term goals we want to start working towards.
These are some great tips for budgeting. It can be hard to make a budget and stick to it.
These are things I should really focus on when setting budgets for the new year. I’m confident that I can stay on track!
These are great tips for budgeting. I have been doing really well this year sticking to ours. It is so rewarding at the end of the year to see how much you were able to save.
This is so important to do! Many people don’t bother to budget and then find themselves in trouble. We always budget and if we’re out of money for the fun stuff? Well, we’re out of money and we don’t spend anymore.
I really need to get better at following a set budget. A good resolution for me to have in the new year. Thank you for providing these tips.
Everyone needs to make a budget. Sounds like some great tips to get started and stay on budget.
Making a budget is easy. I have made them dozens of times. It’s actually sticking to it that’s the real challenge.
This is exactly what I do with my budget. When I budget like this I have no debt and I get to enjoy life. It’s a great way to live.
My husband is an accountant, so he is all over our budget and loves to make adjustments along the way. Thanks for the awesome tips.
Budgets are important. It is important to have a clear picture of what you’re spending, what needs to eb spent, and how much of your income can be spent.
I have an Excel sheet that I use for my yearly budget, and I’ve also started using mint.com recently too. Both are good in different ways.
These are all great tips for setting and following a budget. We put our plans into action several years ago and we are now almost debt free. We’ll be completely debt free soon!