Establishing a monthly budget is an essential first move toward making your short- and long-term financial goals a reality. Follow these eight simple steps to get started.
Start by defining your goals for budgeting. Are you looking to get out of debt? Hoping to reduce overspending in certain areas? Wanting to save up for a major purchase? Focusing on objectives will help you make important budget decisions – and keep you motivated to stay on track.
Be specific about your goal and, if necessary, set a deadline. For example, if your long-term goal is to own a home, a measurable goal may be to save $50,000 (or X amount) in five years (X amount of time) for a down payment.
Figure out your total net (aka “take-home”) income and record it as a monthly amount. Be sure to include all sources of income. If you’re starting a new job, an online paycheck calculator can give an accurate estimate of your after-tax earnings.
Make a detailed list of everything you spend (or plan to spend) money on in a given month, including:
Scan through recent bank statements and receipts to catch small or random purchases. These may be easy to miss but can quickly eat up big portions of your paycheck.
Don’t forget to list an amount for short-term and long-term savings. Saving is easiest when it’s a built-in part of your monthly budget.
Sort your expenses into two categories: fixed and variable. Fixed expenses occur regularly and cost the same amount each month or year, like rent or mortgage, insurance payments and subscriptions. (Tip: Include savings in this category, too.)
Variable expenses change from month to month, such as groceries, gas, clothing, entertainment, etc. Expenses in this category are often more flexible, making them easier to adjust to fit your budget. Identifying these will come in handy once you start thinking about ways to cut costs.
Add up your income and all your listed expenses. You’ll come up with one of three results:
Take a look at your expenses and honestly identify the categories you can cut back on or eliminate. If you’re stuck, try recording everything you buy over a period of a week or two. A month is even better. You may be surprised by how easy it is to rack up “little” purchases that really add up. Luckily, there are many simple ways to cut costs that don’t require much effort or major changes to your lifestyle.
Once you’ve set up your budget, stay on top of it by tracking your expenses in each category. Keeping a close eye on where your money’s going will prevent you from overspending. You can do it manually by paper or with an online spreadsheet. Or you can track each transaction with a budgeting app such as Mint or YNAB.
Regularly evaluating and improving your budget is the key to budgeting successfully. Review it each month and adjust any categories that are consistently lower or higher than planned.
To help get you started we've provided a printable monthly budget template (PDF) so you can see where your money is going.
Tip: Do a deeper dive each year to make sure your budget is keeping you on track to reach your goals.
Learn more and take your budget to the next level with these budgeting tips to help track your spending and save.