If you are ready to stop worrying about your family’s finances, grab your very own blank budget worksheet printable.
What should be included in your budget?
Your budget will consist of your income, your expenses, savings and debt payments (which you could also consider an expenses, but for the purposes of tracking are better made into their own category).
What to include in your income?
Income should be any money that you have coming in.
Your paychecks, side hustles, child support, alimony, dividend payments, etc.
What to include in expenses?
There are 3 basic types of expenses: fixed, variable, and discretionary.
Your fixed expenses are expenses that the amount doesn’t change from month to month. (i.e. rent, internet, car payment, etc.)
Your variable expenses are expenses that typically occur monthly, but the amount owed changes from month to month (i.e. utilities, insurance, etc.)
Your discretionary expenses are expenses that you decide how much you will be paying. (i.e. eating out, groceries, gas, entertainment, etc.)
** Another category of expenses that would fall into a version of variable expenses are irregular expenses. These expenses occur yearly, quarterly, etc. and often need to be planned ahead for. (i.e. property taxes, quarterly tax payments, car registration, etc.)
What Should I Be Saving for Every Month?
Planning ahead for your money is an important part of securing your financial future and getting ahead of potential financial disaster.
Some areas you should consider saving for:
- Retirement: Unless you are banking the entirety of your retirement years on social security you need to have a plan to save for your future so you won’t be forced into working in your senior years.
- Short Term Goals: These goals would be for things like buying a car, going on vacation, etc. Financial goals you want to meet in the next 5 years.
- Long Term Goals: These goals would be for things like buying a house, sending your children to college, etc. Financial Goals you want to meet in 5+ years.
- Sinking Funds: Sinking funds can help you stay on budget by allowing you to plan for irregular expenses. Back to school expenses, car repairs, insurance premiums, home repairs, property taxes, etc.
- Emergency Fund: Life happens, better start preparing now. Losing your job, a trip to the emergency room, etc. A traditional recommendation for an emergency fund is enough money to cover 3-6 months worth of living expenses.
Debt
Debt comes with an interest rate. Whether you are super serious into paying off debt or are simply trying to figure out a plan for your debt, making a separate section to track and manage your debt payments is crucial.
How to Use Your blank budget worksheet printable (PDF)
Now that you know how to start a budget and what should be included, let’s put everything together.
I’ve created a super simple blank budget worksheet printable pdf file that you can download and get started today.
This easy to use household budget worksheet printable takes all the guess work out of spending your money and puts everything onto one page.
Getting Started with Your Household Budget Printable
Step 1: Check Your Bank Statements.
Check your bank statements or look online to get a detailed look at your bills and expenses. The best place to start is to look at your spending from the last 3-4 months.
Step 2: Organize Your Bills and Expenses
Once you have a solid list of your monthly expenses and where your money is going each month, organize your expenses based on their expense type.
Related Budgeting Post: The Best Way to Pay Bills Each Month
Step 3: Total all Your Income
Add up every bit of money you have coming in.
Step 4: Tally Money Leftover After Paying Monthly Bills
Take your income total and subtract all of your fixed, variable and discretionary expenses as well as your monthly debt payments.
Step 5: Calculate Savings
Take a look at your savings goals in contrast with the amount of money you have remaining after meeting your monthly money obligations.
Step 6: Adjust Your Spending Plan
Once you’ve looked over how much money you have left over and compare that with the amount of money you have to save– start making realistic adjustments to allow you to meet your saving goals.
If you aren’t able to meet them right away, start formulating a plan to make steps towards those goals.
Bring it Together
Creating a budget doesn’t require a ton of fancy or expensive tools. Pen and paper will certainly get the job done.
Be sure to grab your free blank budget worksheet printable and get started today.
I’d love to hear how you work your monthly household budget. Be sure to drop a comment below with your best budgeting tips.
