Budget (part 1 of ??)

I am no "guru" of budgeting and I don't hold any form of degree in finance or accounting, but I am realistic; which I do believe is one of the first and foremost ways you need to think when starting to budget your money. Here is my disclaimer: I am writing what works for our household and that's it. It is not an all inclusive perfect way to budgeting or managing bills. Take from it what you think will work for you or implement in your house. Or take nothing, just read!

OK... realistic... let's start at where you are. Get out a piece of paper and write each monthly bill or expense in each category below.

Fixed Household Expenses (mortgage/rent, cars, insurance, etc.)

Variable Household Expenses (average bill + $10 for utilities, cable, cell phones, etc.)

Credit Cards (list your credit card balance, minimum monthly payment and interest rate)

Other Fixed Expenses (dance class, day care, etc.)

Other Variable Expense (list what you spend now prior to budgeting for gas, groceries, etc.)

Income (list all sources of income - yours, spouse, social security, child support, etc.)

Other... list about how much you spend each month on eating out, shopping for clothes (even if you already have a closet full) and other spending that is not a necessity.

Now that you have all those figures down you need to add up all of your expenses and subtract that from your income. Are you living within your means?? Most people will be surprised by one of two things... either they should have a LOT of money in the bank and are way overspending on things they can't account for or they are living way beyond their means and don't know how they got there.

Now that you have all those figures down and you have determined whether or not you are living within your means think about how you can improve this and put more money in savings. I started with the Other and Other Variable Expense list. Normally this list will include all kinds of things where you CAN control your spending!

The first place I started was my groceries!

Come back and see how I started saving on groceries and how much I saved! It will astound you!!!