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Whatever the reason, be clear when writing your budget goals.

‍What are your long-term financial goals?.

‍Are you saving for your children’s education?.Are you starting a budget to pay off your debts faster?.Questions to ask yourself when writing goals:

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If your budget spreadsheet tracks your goals clearly, you are constantly reminded of why you are budgeting in the first place.Įven if your goal is just to get better control of your finances and save a little extra each week or month, any sort of budgeting goal will keep you on track. Financial goals may not seem like a vital part of the budgeting process, but listing your budgeting goals will keep you motivated. This is what you want to achieve and when. You should now have a complete list of your income and expenses, which we’ll use to fill in the spreadsheet in the creating your budget section. These spending patterns and behaviours can be called ‘spending leaks’ - we’re going to change your mindset to look at these instead as ‘opportunities to save’. It will also help you identify spending patterns and behaviours that could be better managed to save money.

Look to have all fixed expenses debited out of a single account for better tracking.įollowing these tips will help you document all of your expenses for your budget spreadsheet.

Analyse how much physical cash you withdraw and spend – try to not use cash ongoing.

Analyse your credit card statement for spending patterns by categories.

Here are some tips to accurately gather your existing expenses to document in your budget: Instead of trying to track these mini variable expenses, you might be better off stating ‘I have $50 per week for variable expenses’ and work towards sticking to this number. For instance, some days you may buy a coffee – other days you may not.

Variable expenses are slightly harder to track and may require you to set yourself a daily or weekly budget limit to help cover these.

Fixed (or recurring) expenses are easily tracked, as they are often a set amount on a regular date.

There are also two types of expenses: Fixed and Variable. Listing your expenses quickly helps you establish whether you have enough money coming in to cover these.

‍Your new expenses total $1,725 per month.

‍You add a buffer of 15% which is calculated at $225.

You estimate you spend $1,500 per month.

When calculating your expenses, also factor in unexpected bills, such as unplanned car repairs.Ī good rule of thumb is to add an extra 10 per cent to 15 per cent. A forgotten bill really throws a wrench into your savings plan. Remember that being thorough when you add up expenses is important in creating a realistic budget.

Some expenses are intermittent, such as insurance payments, so to get the most accurate financial picture you can calculate an average for six months to a year. Assess your expenses by consulting your bank statements, receipts, and financial files.