How to Maintain a Budget for Personal Use
Determine your income., Determine all of your outgoing expenses, including bills and spending money., Compare the amount you make in a month to the amount you spend in a month.
Step-by-Step Guide
-
Step 1: Determine your income.
Review recent check stubs.
Total your monthly income. , The best way to determine your outgoing expenses is to only make purchases and pay bills through your bank account for a 30 day period.
At the end of the 30 day period, review your bank statement to total all outgoing expenses.
If you do not have a bank account, tracking your outgoing expenses may be harder and not as accurate.
Sit down and write out all your monthly bill payments.
Also, estimate how much money you spend in a given month on food and beverages, car maintenance, activities, and etc.
Total this number and multiply by 4 to get your monthly expenses. , Expenses should never be more than your income.
Housing costs should account for no more than 30% of your income. 10% of your income should be saved.
If either of the above strategies is not possible, then you should consider revising your budget. -
Step 2: Determine all of your outgoing expenses
-
Step 3: including bills and spending money.
-
Step 4: Compare the amount you make in a month to the amount you spend in a month.
Detailed Guide
Review recent check stubs.
Total your monthly income. , The best way to determine your outgoing expenses is to only make purchases and pay bills through your bank account for a 30 day period.
At the end of the 30 day period, review your bank statement to total all outgoing expenses.
If you do not have a bank account, tracking your outgoing expenses may be harder and not as accurate.
Sit down and write out all your monthly bill payments.
Also, estimate how much money you spend in a given month on food and beverages, car maintenance, activities, and etc.
Total this number and multiply by 4 to get your monthly expenses. , Expenses should never be more than your income.
Housing costs should account for no more than 30% of your income. 10% of your income should be saved.
If either of the above strategies is not possible, then you should consider revising your budget.
About the Author
Thomas Ramirez
Professional writer focused on creating easy-to-follow hobbies tutorials.
Rate This Guide
How helpful was this guide? Click to rate: