It’s time to incorporate some of the mechanics of budgeting into your budget. Until now, you’ve used your spending history to make your budget. Take a look at your budget and review the income and expense categories and dollar amounts. Is there money left over after all the expenses are deducted from income? If so, […]

Budget Basics – Part Five will address how to determine how much to put in your budget for specific items. Most of us can list the regular monthly categories and also attach a reasonably accurate $ amount to each one but there are lots of other items to consider. There are many little expenses that […]

Budget Basics – Part Three was about the mechanics of gathering your information and breaking it down into numbers and categories. This part can be tricky for people because there’s what you’ve historically spent and what you should allocate for your budget numbers. At a later stage we will take a look at the whole […]

Now that you know what information you need to make up your budget, let’s get started. Make sure you have all your information handy such as your pay check, bills, bank and credit card statements. What will you use to draft your budget? Paper or Excel – whatever is easiest for you. You will likely […]

Now you know what a budget is (Budget Basics – Part One), let’s talk about the components of a budget. Income and expenses are the 2 main components and within them are various categories. Income is money earned. You get a paycheck or receive a pension, earn interest from investments. You may receive it regularly […]

It’s a good time of year to tackle the topic. I’ll be taking a look at Budget Basics over a series of posts starting with ‘What’ and moving onward from there. Most of us have a fairly good idea of what a budget is. Oxford defines a budget as:estimate or plan of how money will […]

Most kids are back to school. Maybe this week is to get oriented and say hello to friends but next week it’s the real deal. Did you have enough time to get prepared? It’s a quick transition from summer fun to back to school. Here are a few suggestions to make sure you get the […]

Did you read Part 1? Did you take a stab at assessing your income and expenses? Did you draft your budget and cash flow statement? No worries if not, see the steps listed and an example to review. 1) Current savings and expected monthly income 2) Expenses paid and expenses you expect to pay (monthly […]

Perhaps you’re already there and in the process of getting settled or maybe you don’t have to travel. Either way, the next couple weeks will be a whirlwind! Lots of fun things to do and lots of tasks to get done. In all the chaos, don’t forget to organize your $. Whether you’re starting out […]