Set Up a Spending Plan
You are now ready to establish your Spending Plan. Try the free
OKMM Budgeting
Calculator to help.
Begin by categorizing your monthly responsibilities and expenses
that you discovered on the expense tracker. Some categories typical
for many consumers are already listed but this can be customized
for your particular financial situation.
Take your own Monthly Expense Form and your Debt Listing and
complete the Budget Calculator with all of your own expenses and
debts listed.
Using the Budget Calculator, you can project out for a period of
time and begin to see how you can make progress on debts, adjust
for periodic expenses or expenses you were not anticipating at all,
and also have a comprehensive quick look at your finances at any
point in time.
Over the months, you will begin to build a great form of
documentation for all of your financial activities that relate to
personal spending and planning. Add one more step and you will
virtually always feel in control of YOUR MONEY.
When a bill arrives, track the amount of the payment due in your
Budget Calculator and then place it in your Money Management file.
You will have a quick and ready reference for amounts and dates due
for bills rather than continually rummaging through a pile of
envelopes and papers.
For expenses for which you do not actually receive a bill, list
or estimate those amounts approximately one month ahead of time and
you will begin to know what to anticipate as you manage the real
flow of YOUR MONEY.
What if a totally unexpected expense comes up? Often a car
repair or doctor bill can seem to throw you off completely. Never
fear...you are now able to look ahead and anticipate the effect
paying for that expense by cash or credit will have on your budget.
As you become more accustomed to relying on this form, you will
learn what risks you can and cannot take and still maintain the
money flow that works effectively for you.
Good luck with this final step in YOUR MONEY planning! Reaching
this step successfully and gaining confidence in using the Budget
Calculator will make a huge difference in how you feel about YOUR
MONEY!
Visit OklahomaMoneyMatters.org to
learn more about budgeting.
