Five Keys to Developing a Successful Budget

Here are five keys to developing a successful budget from Crosswalk:

1. Teamwork.

2. Learn what your true income is.

3. Do your budget on a monthly basis.

4. Do your budget in written form!!!

5. Prepare your budget in order of priority.

Not bad advice, but not all of it works for me. Here are my thoughts on each of the above:

1. Yep. You HAVE to be in agreement with your spouse as to what you're spending, on what, when, etc. as well as who pays the bills and so on.

2. You have to know what you make and know what "automatic" costs there are in your budget. I'm not sure this is what he means, though.

3. We do our budget twice a year -- once in January and an update in July. Of course we started monthly, then moved to quarterly, then moved to where we are now. It took us 15 years to get to this point, so if you're just starting out, monthly is probably the right amount of time.

4. Yes!!! It has to be written!!! We plan out our budget on Excel and then track it on Quicken.

5. I don't do this. I do it alphabetically. I'm not sure "priority order" adds anything, but if it does for you, I'd say do it that way. If it doesn't, then don't do it that way.

Comments

[JL Walton]

Knowing what you make and what you bring home makes a world of difference. I start my budget by looking at the gross pay, then take out 401K, taxes, and other deductions. Then I incorporate my other expenses. This has helped me view things on a percentage basis. Sometimes spending XX dollars does not seem to be a "big" deal, but when it is XX% of my gross pay...I began to pay more attention.

Thanks for the post...love this blog! Keep it up!

[Jo]

I write my budget in a ledger book ever month. At first it was hard to remember to do it, but now I do it every month. I get my paycheck once a month (yep...once a month!!) and then I write down the all my regular expenses, in the same order but not in any paricular order. Writing it monthly works to because I do alter my budget depending on extra expense and it allows me to add items like a second saving account or medical bills. I also use an envelope system for most of my categories (I don't have an envelope for things that I just write a check for like Rent or med bills.) It really helps me to see where my money is going vs. where I want it to go. I really suggest doing your budget monthly if you are just starting out.

[aleish]

Thanks for the very helpful information. My biggest chunk of income went to food. So i decided to "cut" it down. The result is, more savings and nice body :)

[Tom]

I agree with the five steps. My family has a written yearly budget and monthly budget. We have a "finance" meeting each month to discuss recurring and non-recurring expenses i.e. mortgage vs. dentist. We use our debit card to pay for everything and then on the monthly budget fill in what was spent. This allows us to re-adjust gas for the cars over food if there is a need to as the month goes along. Our budget also has a savings goal for the month above and beyond the 401K and IRA. We get paid twice a week and whatever is leftover in checking gets moved to savings to help meet that goal. Finally we post the budget on our "goal board." Our goal board is a cork board we tack our wants and desires to. Our goal board has a map of Europe on it for a future trip, a picture of our house - PAID OFF, and a new car. Our budgets help us achieve our dreams and live comfortably. Thanks for the blog.