Do you need help with how to prepare a budget? Most of us don’t want to admit it, but we do need help. Here is a budget that I set up for myself that will give you a good idea of how to prepare a budget.

Expenses

Rent – $450 per month due on the 5th of each month

Car payment – $139 every two weeks or $295 per month

Electric bill – $40 a month (roughly) due on the 19th of every month

Gas bill – $59 a month (roughly) due on the 14th of each month

Car insurance – $158 a month due on the 20th of every month

Health insurance – $50 a month due on the 1st of every month

Gas – $55 a week or $240 a month

Food – $35 a week or $152 a month

Cable bill (including internet) – $80 a month due on the 25th of every month

Child Support – $75 a week or $325 a month

Car repairs – $50 a month

Oil changes – $10 a month

Haircut – $25 a month

Entertainment – $150 a month

Savings – $166 a month

Tithing $250

Now since I am a server and bartender I make cash on a regular basis and it is a bit hard for me to predict how much I am going to make each time I work. This budget is set up on a $2,500 take home income. This is considered a low income month for me and my bills that I have to estimate are high estimations.

This allows for some extra at the end of the month so that I can save more money and maybe buy something nice for myself. I stick to this with discipline and I use a system of envelopes. I have a bad habit of spending money if I know I have it so what I do is I allow myself a spending amount each week for little things.

This is usually around $15. Then, every night when I get home from work I take what I have earned and I put it into envelopes. I have one for each category. At the end of the week I make adjustments if I made more than planned for that week. Usually these adjustments are paying off a bill sooner than needed or saving more money.

By doing this I am able to stay within my budget and cover myself if a bad week does come into effect.

Now if you get paid by check, then you will have a much better idea of what you are going to make. I suggest that you set up your budget based on your average work week, if you don’t get 40 hours, and if you work overtime only ever budget for 40 hours. Treat overtime as extra and save some of it, use some for entertainment, and save some more.

Preparing a budget is not hard, but you will have to be disciplined to stick to it. Learn how to prepare a budget and you will be very happy you did.

Are you struggling to make ends meet and you just cannot figure out why? Do you have a budget that you struggle to keep to or do you live without a budget? There are certain secrets to how to budget money that you need to know in order to be successful with your budget. Here are a few tips to help you budget your money better.

First, spend an entire month writing down everything you spend money on. At the end of the month break down all your spending into more general categories like food, entertainment, clothing, etc. This will give you a very good idea of where your money is going and where you can make some cut backs.

Next, if you get paid by check once a week or bi weekly, then you need to set up your budget to accommodate that. For example, if you make $1,500 every two weeks and you take home roughly $1,100 of it after taxes, then your budget should be set up for $2,383 a month. this is what you will be making each month since there are 52 weeks in a year.

After you have your income figured out it is very easy to set up your budget. First, you have to make sure all of your bills are taken care of. Next, comes gas for your car and food. After that you need to put in any other necessities. Then, you need to figure in all your once a year expenses like car registration and license fees.

If your budget is set up on an income of $2,383 a month and your bills, necessities, and other expenses add up to $1,600 a month, then you will have $783 left each month. For the first few months you should be saving a lot of this. You should save until you have a full 3 months worth of bills in the bank as a cushion.

Last, you need to figure in savings, unexpected expenses like car repairs and medical emergencies, and you need to have an entertainment budget. You have to be realistic and understand that you are going to want to go out and have fun. Plus you have to know that sooner or later you are going to need to make car repairs and you do have oil that will need changed.

When you learn how to budget money it is easy to ignore the unexpected, but your life will be much less stressful if you have already planned for the unexpected before it happens. The funny thing is most people don’t even plan for the expected like oil changes, license fees, or Christmas spending. They think that because they are not monthly that they don’t need to budget for them. Don’t fall into this trap.