Without actually adding up every cent you spend on a monthly basis, it’s difficult to know exactly how much you’re actually spending. Get an Accurate Idea of How Much You’re Spending Every Month Using a simple budget template can help make budgeting a cinchĤ. You may even consider trying out an account management tool that will remind you when you have a bill coming due soon.

Why waste money on late fees? An easy way to counter this is to set up your bill accounts on auto-pay so there’s no need to remember when to make the payment, and for what bill. The lower your credit score, the harder it will be for you to get approved for loans, including mortgages, car loans, and so forth.

Sounds easier said than done, right? Perhaps, but paying your bills in full and on time every single month will not only help you avoid those sky-high interest rates on outstanding debt, it will also help keep your credit score healthy. If your employer offers a retirement savings plan, take advantage of it, and contribute to it as much as you can, especially if they match a percentage of your contribution. Have a portion of your paycheck automatically deposited into an account that you don’t have to touch. Whether they just didn’t have any money left over to do it, or simply ‘forgot’ to, many times the savings account is growing nothing but dust. Many people will come up with excuse after excuse as to why they didn’t – or couldn’t – put a certain amount of money aside each month into a savings account. Automatically Set Money Aside For Savings Once you’ve set this simple formula, you can break it down and elaborate on it as much as you want or need to.Ģ. If you get a negative number as a result, you know that you’ve got to cut back on certain expenses in order to keep the number in the positives. The difference between the two is what you have leftover to spend on leisure expenses, such as dining out, going out to the movies, going on vacation, etc. Start off using a simple formula – your take-home pay minus your expenses (including your mortgage/rent, car payments, utility bills, cable bills, and so forth). Although budgeting involves some level of mathematics, it doesn’t necessarily mean that you need to be a calculus professor in order to maintain a proper, working budget.

You might hate math, which is huge reason why budgeting just hasn’t made it to your to-do list. If you’ve never budgeted before, and have procrastinated up to this point because you’re not sure how or where to start, the following 4 tips can help. Click below for the free budget template that matches your lifestyleīudgeting may not exactly be your favorite past-time, but it’s a necessary part of life in order to ensure that your finances are kept in order.

Simple monthly budget spreadsheet