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Budgeting


In order to get your finances in check and make well thought out decisions on big purchases you should create a budget. This site has got an array of budgeting worksheets that are perfect to start you off.

http://frugalliving.about.com/od/frugalliving101/a/Frugal_Wkshts.htm


If you have excel on your computer download the yearly budget worksheet from this website:

http://www.vertex42.com/ExcelTemplates/home-budget-worksheet.html


Note: It's a little difficult to find at first, but the download link is in blue on the right hand side.

I use two worksheets for my budget planning, a monthly budget to keep me on track and the yearly budget to see exactly where my money is going, how much I could be saving, and for future planning. These of course aren't fool proof, in life things come up. Sometimes when money is tight, your budget for the month all goes to bills. The goal of the budget worksheets is to see where your money goes, how you can consider cutting back and making sure you are paying your bills on time each month to keep your credit in good standing and interest from piling on.

Be realistic with your budget, leaving some slack for emergencies or when things come up. This is ussually my downfall and when I have gone over my budget I end up feeling guilty. So always leave some slack for everything from a flat tire to deciding to go out to dinner with friends.

I also find it useful to make up a couple months ahead of time so I can see how much remaining money I might be able to save, or have in case of an emergency. Especially with owning a home, things always come up that need to be repaired, replaced or upgraded and it's good to see how much money you can probably expect to come in and plan accordingly.

So check out these budget sheets, you might be surprised on how much you could really cut back on.

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