Consumer Budget Planner
A budget is a plan for coordinating income, saving and expenses. The type of budget that will work best for you depends on the saving and spending priorities you set based upon your personal needs, wants, and lifestyle. The Consumer Budget Planner provides an electronic means to help you list your monthly income, saving, and expenses.
You need to take time to analyze your present spending habits by examining your budget. Are you surprised at the amount you are spending in some categories? Are you saving for the things you want? Can you start cutting back on some items? Are you spending your money on the items you truly need and want, or are you frittering away your paycheck on unnecessary expenses either as a result of vague spending priorities or poor shopping habits?
To get the greatest return on your income, it helps to:
- Know how much money you have to spend.
- Set priorities on spending.
- Develop a budget.
- Spend according to your budget.
TIPS FOR TAILORING YOUR BUDGET
- Keep it simple.
- Be realistic - show your income, saving and expenses as they are and not what you would like them to be.
- Do not set spending limits that are impossible to meet.
- Keep your budget flexible; use it to give you a general idea of how you are spending your money, not as way to account for each dime spent.
- Include a regular saving program to cover your future goals such as a car, vacation, or a down payment for a home.
- Set up a saving plan for expenses that will occur throughout the year, but not necessarily each month, such as gifts, insurance, taxes and medical expenses.
- Establish a regular weekly allowance for each family member.
INSTRUCTIONS FOR ELECTRONIC BUDGET PLANNER
Current Column
- List your monthly net income(s), saving and expense amounts as you currently are earning, saving and spending.
- Enter amounts to include decimals such as $100.00
- The electronic worksheet will add income and subtract expenses and saving and show if your net income is adequate to cover your saving and expenses.
- IF NOT, you need to decide which items you can reduce or do without and make the adjustments in the Adjusted Column
- Revised Column will show the budget created with the adjustments made.
Note: The electronic budget planner will automatically save your information so you can return and update it. (If the browser cookies on your computer are disabled, the information will not be saved.)
| Electronic Budget Planner Worksheet |
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CURRENT |
ADJUSTED |
REVISED |
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