Budget help

[crazydoglady]

Any good sites for free budget planners? I am horrible at setting up my own budget, so if I could find a pre-fabbed form that is efficient, that would be wonderful.

I found one I liked yesterday, but it ended up being in pounds rather than dollars. I'm even worse at monetary exchange conversions than I am at budgeting! LOL

[rolltimer]

You can learn a lot about budgeting by keeping track of all your expenses in a small notebook. At the end of the month, figure out the categories you need: rent or mortgage, electricity, heating oil, water, sewer, groceries and home supplies, eating out, clothes, car maintenance & repairs, gas, bus or subway passes, phone, entertainment, internet, cable, insurance and any other items. Assign each expense to the appropriate category and tally up the totals. Write the totals in a separate notebook or on a separate page from the running expenses. Next month do the same. After about 6 months you'll have a handle on how much you are spending on average in each category. You'll also have an idea of areas to trim, financial or savings goals you want to reach. While a financial or budget creation site can offer suggestions and tips, no one knows your financial situation like you do, where your strengths lie and your weaknesses crop up to trip you just when you think you're on track to meet a goal. It's too easy to drop the whole matter if a site says you should be saving X or spending Y and you are nowhere near the target. Take it a little at a time and you become the master of your finances.

[TexasOaks]

PM me if you still need one. I have one in excel I can send to your email.