How To Create a Budget Regardless of Your Income

Finances don’t have to be scary! I think everyone should have a budget regardless of their income! Outside of worldly issues outside of our control, a lot of people don’t pay attention to where their money goes! That is where the trouble starts!

Once you know what you have and what you spend, I bet you will notice you have more than you thought. Let’s get started on creating your budget. (I’ve added my budget template below)! It doesn’t have to be complicated!

• Know your Monthly Income (I like to split my payments by paycheck)
• Categorize bills and expenses
  • Reoccuring home bills (mortgage, utilities, cable, etc.)
  • Fixed payments (loans, car, cell phone, etc).
  • Debt payments that you can flex/increase when you have extra (credit cards)
  • Savings (this is non-negotiable)
    • Goals (Down payment on a house)
    • Emergency expenses
    • Trave funds
  • Monthly flex spending (this is what’s leftover

If you are not sure what you are spending monthly, take a few months and track everything. If you are not honest with yourself, this won’t work! You can save all your receipts or review your card statements. Mint.com is also great for helping you understand and categorize your expenses. This will help you know where you can save. Did you know you were spending $500 a month on coffee? Why not buy a nice coffee maker and cut that expense in half?

Once you have done the heavy lifting, it’s time to automate and simplify as much as possible! Any expense that doesn’t change month to month, and you have been paying regularly, put it on auto-pay! If you really want to go crazy, have that amount direct deposited to an account just for bills.

Do the same with your savings! Make sure you prioritize paying yourself and leave room for fun or you won’t stick to the budget.

We track our monthly budget in GoogleDocs but excel, or even a notebook will work. Find a process that works for you and stick to it!

Again, creating a budget doesn’t have to be hard! You want to be diligent in tracking your expenses and then you can coast! I want to leave you with a few tips:

• Check-in often! You want to make sure auto drafts are happening and bills are being paid on time.
• Don’t forget to increase your 401K and savings as your income increases.
• Plan your budget to align with how you get paid, and when during the month you actually pay your bills.

I hope this helps you get started. I wanted to make this digestible and easy to understand starting out. Grab your budget template above and get to saving! Let me know if you have any questions and happy budgeting!

XOXO, Laya