How Do You Start A Personal Budget?
Getting started on a personal budget can be a challenging task for anyone. Everyone knows how much they make, but where it goes can be the trickier part. Using a piece of paper or a spreadsheet, write down all the payments you make every month. This would include rent, utilities, cell phone, car payments, and anything else you pay every month. Save this information for later. For a week, carry a small spiral note pad with you and write down every time you spend money on something. Note the spending comments in general terms so you can categorize them later. Examples of entries are: groceries $50, fast food $6, entertainment $10, gas/oil $14. By category add up all your spending from the sprial note book. If you kept track for a week, multiply your totals by 4 to get to a monthly estimate of spending. Add the totals from your spiral note tracking to the first list of monthly expenses and add all of these together. You now have compiled a list of spending for a month.
