Whether or not you are eligible for these programs, you will have “Must Spend This Month" expenses for basic nutritional needs. Some factors that determine the amount of money spent for food are family size, special health needs, food likes, and ages of household members. You may be eligible for food stamps, but the money you get from these sources will not meet all your nutritional needs. Write these under “Must Spend This Month" on the Step 3 form. These could be housing rent or mortgage payment, child care, prescription medication, and monthly installment payments such as car payments. In addition, there are some monthly or regular expenses your family can't change now. Write the answer-"Monthly Amount to Set Aside"-under “Must Spend This Month" ( download Step 3 form). This amount is the Monthly $ Amount to Set Aside. In any case, by sticking to the plan, you will be able to handle all the expenses on your list after a year.ĭivide Total Periodic Expenses by 12 months. If you're lucky, the big expenses are still far enough away to allow you to save up for them. This does not mean the plan can't work, only that you didn't have enough time to prepare for this particular expense. If a large expense comes up early in your plan, you may not have set aside enough to meet it. Now, when these expenses come up, you will be ready for them and not have to decide which bills to leave unpaid. The answer is the amount your family must set aside every month to get ready for those big expenses (see "family goals" page on form 1). Then add all these expenses for the year and divide by 12. To get ready for these expenses, list all periodic or occasional items and their amounts in the months they come due (see Step 1 form) and fill out the "periodic expenses pages ). There are also some big expenses that your family has to pay only once or twice a year-taxes, water, loans, insurance, school clothes, holiday expenses, birthday, and others. Add up all the money your family takes home to find your “Monthly Take-Home Income" ( download Step 2 form). Your family gets money one or more ways-jobs, child support, public assistance, social security, and food stamps. Now look at how much money your family has to work with this month. Think of “Pay Yourself First" as a bill you owe to the family to reach goals. Make savings a regular part of your budget it is a “Must Spend". A simple, effective idea is called “Pay Yourself First." It is setting aside money, savings, before using any of your income for expenses. Saving part of your income is very important to provide for future needs and wishes. You may want to plan for some big purchase, as well as plan for additional savings. In future months, your family should set goals for using money for the whole year. Use an automatic savings method such as direct deposit from each paycheck to save money for family goals. Some families start planning by setting a goal of saving a few dollars in the first month ( download Step 1 form). One goal that must guide your family is that spending will not be more than income. Solving some of these money needs should be your family's goal for the month. For example, it may be balancing income and spending, paying off an overdue bill, or having money for big expenses that come once or twice yearly. Set Goals (Needs and Wishes)ĭecide what your family's biggest money needs are right now. It will help your family get the things it wants and cut down unplanned spending. However, if you just want to get a quick overview of your monthly budget, also offers a budgeting worksheet which can provide a solid basic understanding of your finances.A budget or spending plan takes six steps for managing your family's money. Many budgeting apps also offer the opportunity to personalize and fine-tune your budget, while still requiring less effort than using a spreadsheet or a worksheet. What’s more, moneyunder30 also encourages you to modify the sheet to match your own spending habits-this could mean changing and adding categories to better reflect your expenditures. The spreadsheet then calculates how much you have left at the end of the month.Ī great benefit of using a spreadsheet as opposed to a worksheet is how you can save it and update it regularly, so you always have an up-to-date picture of your monthly budget. After downloading it, you simply enter all of your income after tax and all of your expenditures. The free spreadsheet from is compatible with both Microsoft Excel and Google Docs.
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