Making A Weekly Budget In A Matter Of Minutes
There is no doubt that the health of the economy is questionable and many families are struggling to make ends meet. While it is nearly impossible to survive on the income of a single part-time job, especially with children, there are ways to stretch your dollar farther. Every family regardless of size needs to run their finances around a weekly or bi-weekly budget. Your budget will need to include every aspect of your finances, including expenses, debts and cash payments for it to be beneficial. Below, you will discover several tips to help you create a weekly budget in a matter of minutes.
Gather Financial Documents
The first step includes the gathering of financial documents, including savings statements, paycheck stubs, monthly bills, store receipts, checking account statements and store receipts. If you do not have any receipts, you should start saving them, because they can help you balance your budget for the week.
Calculate Your Income
Most families are comprised of people who work a full- or part-time job(s). Some families will also collect money from rental properties, side work, and sale of personal items. All of this money will need to be included in your financial budget. Most families will remain within the same bracket for several months, with a few alterations here and there. Be sure to include you My Kohl’s charge card, as well.
This step includes tallying up your income, including all of the money that is brought into the home over a four-month period. Once you come up with a total, you will need to divide that number by four to get a monthly average and then divide by four again to get your weekly average.
List Your Expenses
If your family is like other families, you probably have quite a few expenses. There is no way to get by unless you have expenses, as almost everything costs something this day and time. This step involves calculating your expenses and this means everything from a 25-cent pack of gum to a $50 pair of shoes. You should include your gas, groceries, clothing, school and/or work supplies, dining out and another other expense that incurred over the month.
Once you tallying of those expenses, you should start tallying up your bills, including phone, electricity, cable, trash and other bills that you pay on a monthly basis. Now, once you tally up your monthly bills and expenses, you will need to divide both numbers by four to get the weekly amount.
Time To Do Some Subtractions
This step involves subtracting your expenses from your income. If there is any money leftover, you may want to consider depositing it into a savings account, where it will collect interest. Remember, every penny counts especially when you are trying to budget your finances.
Set Financial Goals
If you set financial goals for your family, you will be able to accomplish so much more. Everyone desires to own a home someday and it will not be possible without these goals. It is important to note that you must stay within your budget to have money left over at the end of the month.