Set Up a Budget!

Wouldn't it be Heaven if you could manage your bills every payday and know that the bills were paid on time, that you had food in the frig, that you had gas in your car, and no one is calling you to yell at you about non-payment?
This page will help you get to that point. All you need is a reasonable budget that is above all else REALISTIC.
Print or save to hard disk all the "forms" on these pages so that you can work along and make a budget that you can live with.

Step 1

Sit down and figure out what you spend monthly on this form.
There will be many things that you will be unable to say a monthly figure for. On these items (like Christmas), figure out what you spend and how often you spend it. If it is yearly, divide by 12. If it is semi-annually, divide by 6. If it is quarterly, divide by 3. Enter your answer in the box as a monthly figure.

Step 2

What is your net income? Figure that out on this form.
Do not include any overtime. I don't care if you've been getting the overtime for 50 years; it could still be gone tomorrow, so don't count it. It's extra.
Do not include quarterly or annual bonuses. Do not include income from occasional side jobs or sporadic part-time work.
What I'm trying to say is....only include the income you can truly count on if your life depended on it.

Step 3

Use this form to write down who your creditors are.
Do not put down your car payment, any tax repayment plans, or student loans. Those were already entered on the Step 1 form.
Make sure to enter the correct monthly payments. By that I mean, if you were up to date, what would the payment be?

Step 4

At this time, add up all of the page totals at the bottom of the tables.

Step 5

Use this form to transfer all your numbers over to and so that you are able to read your position effectively.
DO NOT FREAK OUT!!!
If your bottom line number is a negative number, go here.
If your bottom line number is a positive number, go here.

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