These are the variable but necessary expenses that can change from month to month.įor variable expenses, it’s a good idea to calculate the monthly average over the last 12 months. But you’ll notice that some necessary costs are not included in these expenses, like groceries or prescriptions. These fixed costs are the easiest to track, as they generally stay the same from month to month. Janine and Henry’s fixed expenses look like this: Monthly memberships (such as gym membership).Utilities, including mobile phone and data/Wi-Fi access (if these fluctuate, calculate the monthly average over the last 12 months).Now’s the time to look up and record every single one of your fixed expenses. For instance, you know exactly how much you pay for your rent or mortgage each month. Most people have a basic sense of their fixed, or recurring, expenses. These include fixed expenses and variable necessities.

Your necessary expenses are the bare minimum you need each month to maintain your life. By looking back at his income for the past six months, however, he learns that even though he only brought in $1,300 in one month and nearly $8,000 another month, his average earnings month-to-month (after setting aside his quarterly estimated tax payments) is $3,500.īetween Janine and Henry, their average monthly income is $6,600 (Janine’s $3,100 income + Henry’s $3,500 average monthly income).

Henry works as a freelancer, so his income fluctuates. This can give you an understanding of how much you earn each month on average. In that case, gather your income information for the past three to six months and calculate the average. However, if you work as a freelancer, have side hustles, earn hourly pay or overtime or rely on tips or commission, your monthly income is a little more difficult to calculate. Knowing this amount gives her a starting point for calculating her budget. Multiplied by two, her monthly take-home pay is $3,100. Janine receives a paycheck of $1,550 on the 1st and 15th of every month. You can then multiply that by four if you’re paid weekly or two if you’re paid biweekly or twice a month. You’ll just need to take a look at your most recent pay stub to see how much you earn per paycheck. You’ll start by calculating your monthly income.įor anyone who receives a salary from a traditional employer, this part will be very simple. Once you’ve embraced the realities of the budgeting process, you’re ready to start getting into the nitty-gritty numbers. To get ready for this new, ongoing task, Janine and Henry schedule weekly time to go over their budget together. Going into your brand new budget with the acknowledgement that you are committing to a regular and ongoing process will help you maintain your budget, which is far more important than just creating one. Like money management, your laundry is an ongoing responsibility that cannot be avoided, ignored or forgotten without some serious consequences. Instead of thinking of budgeting as a one-time or occasional chore, it’s better to think of it as a regular maintenance task, much like doing your laundry. The best way to set yourself up for budgeting success is to embrace the fact that budgeting is the ongoing strategy you will use to live the financial life you want. Eventually, it got to the point where they had to sit down to create a budget again and start the whole process anew. They didn’t understand why they were still struggling to make ends meet. After creating their first budget, the couple was not actively tracking their spending, so they didn’t notice when they had blown past their self-imposed restaurant spending limit. If this is what you think of as budgeting, it’s very tough to actually get ahead, as Janine and Henry learned. So they vowed to spend no more than $50 a week at restaurants-and went on their merry way feeling good that they’d made a budget. Let’s look at an example, using a composite couple, “Henry” and “Janine.” The first time Janine and Henry tried to make a budget, they realized they had dropped over $450 the previous month on dining out. You plan for how much you will spend in the future. You figure out how much you have been spending. You sit down with your accounts and receipts.

We often tend to think of budgeting as a one-and-done kind of chore.

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