Your goal is to make a zero-based budget-aka all your income minus all your expenses equals zero. If you end up with a negative number, you need to cut some expenses. If you have money left when you’ve subtracted all your expenses, put it toward your current money goal, like saving or paying off debt. (And guess what-EveryDollar does this for you automatically as you fill in your budget lines! Heck yeah.) When you’ve got all those expenses in your monthly budget, you need to subtract them from your income.
#Sample personal budget template free#
Then you’ll free up money each month to do what you want instead of what your debts demand.īudget Step 3: Subtract Expenses From Income It’s like taking two steps forward with your money only to be yanked back again.
Why? Debt steals this month’s income to cover something in the past. You need to cut back on all the extras until you’ve kicked debt out of your life. If you’ve got debt, you shouldn’t be piling money into an entertainment or restaurant budget line. Start with fixed expenses before filling in estimated planned amounts on any of the rest.
In EveryDollar, you’ll see these categories: Personal, Lifestyle, Health, Insurance and Debt.Īgain, create the budget lines you need under each. Then work in a miscellaneous line and any entertainment and fun money (sometimes called personal spending). Start with the essentials like insurance, debt and childcare. Next, you need to list out all your other monthly expenses. Then list all other monthly expenses in EveryDollar. What do you usually spend on that expense? Make a good estimate based on past spending and put that into the Planned amount.ĭo this for any food, utilities, shelter and transportation expenses you pay each month. You can log into your online banking and look over the past couple of months. Other expenses change month to month, like how much you spend on gas. Your rent or mortgage, for example, is probably a fixed expense. Some of these budget lines are easy to plan for because they’re what’s called a fixed expense-aka you pay the same amount every month. (You can even use emojis! Hey, who says budgeting isn’t fun?)Ĭheck out our example budget below to see common budget lines for each of these categories. Under each category, you’ll want to add budget lines by clicking Add Item and naming the line. In EveryDollar, you’ll cover your Four Walls inside the Housing, Transportation and Food budget categories. In other words, you feed your family, keep the lights on, pay the rent or mortgage, put gas in the car, and keep the car running. And if you don’t have an emergency fund yet, make savings one of your priorities.įocus on covering your Four Walls after that: food, utilities, shelter and transportation. It’s time to list your expenses.īefore you jump into the bills and other expenses, set aside money for giving. Now that you’ve planned for the money coming in, you’re ready for step two-planning for the money going out. It makes budgeting way easier for irregular incomers, just like you! And check out the new paycheck planning feature in the premium version of EveryDollar. If you have an irregular income, you can still do this! Just put the lowest estimate of what you normally make in this spot. Repeat that process with all the income you (and your spouse, if you’re married) will earn in a month.Click the Planned amount and add in a planned dollar amount.Label the income as Paycheck 1, Paycheck 2, Side Hustle Money, or with your employer’s name-whatever works for you!.Here’s how you enter your income in EveryDollar: Income is any money you plan to get during that month-that means your normal paychecks and any extra money coming your way through a side hustle, garage sale, freelance work and the like. The first step to create your monthly budget is simple: Enter your income.
You can create your budget in a spreadsheet, on a piece of paper, or the best way-with EveryDollar. When you create a monthly budget, you tell your money where to go so you’re never again left wondering where it went. Your monthly budget is just a plan for your money.
#Sample personal budget template how to#
Ready to start? Let’s break down the steps and learn how to create a budget with EveryDollar.įirst, let’s start with a solid definition of budgeting. (You.)Īnd with EveryDollar, it’s way easier. It gives you permission to spend the right way-to show your money who’s in charge. But listen: The budget life is so worth it.īudgeting doesn’t tell you not to spend.
People think budgets are hard, time-consuming and restricting.
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