How to make a simple Budget

Budgeting is the easiest way to find out where your money is going, and for the future, to know where your money is going to go.
To prepare you budget, you're going to need to know a few things:
1. Your household income
2. The average amount of all of your monthly bills, to include rent/mortgage, electric, gas, water, garbage, debts, etc.
3. The amount of money you need to survive.

I attached a simple spreadsheet that will help you create a budget.

MONTHLY BUDGET
INCOME
	TOTAL	PAYCHECK 1	PAYCHECK 2
SPOUSE 1 MONTHLY INCOME	$       5,000.00	$       2,500.00	$            2,500.00
SPOUSE 2 MONTHLY INCOME	$       3,000.00	$       1,500.00	$            1,500.00
OTHER INCOME:	$          200.00		$               200.00
TOTAL:	$       8,200.00	$       4,000.00	$            4,200.00
EXPENSES
	MONTHLY	PAYCHECK 1	PAYCHECK 2
MORTAGE
RENT	$          950.00	$           475.00	$               475.00
GROCERIES	$          400.00	$           200.00	$               200.00
RESTAURANT	$          200.00	$           100.00	$               100.00
ELECTRICITY	$          250.00	$           125.00	$               125.00
WATER & GAS	$             50.00	$             25.00	$                  25.00
GARBAGE	$             24.00	$             12.00	$                  12.00
CHARITABLE GIVING	$          800.00	$           400.00	$               400.00
CELL PHONE	$          180.00	$             90.00	$                  90.00
TELEVISION	$             50.00	$             25.00	$                  25.00
INTERNET	$             40.00	$             20.00	$                  20.00
RENTER/HOME INSURANCE	$             15.00	$               7.50	$                    7.50
HOME SECURITY SYSTEM	$             50.00	$             25.00	$                  25.00
CLOTHING PURCHASE	$          200.00	$           100.00	$               100.00
CAR REPAIRS	$          100.00	$             50.00	$                  50.00
VEHICLE FUEL	$          400.00	$           200.00	$               200.00
VEHICLE INSURANCE	$          180.00	$             90.00	$                  90.00
CAR SAVINGS	$          600.00	$           300.00	$               300.00
HOLIDAY/BIRTHDAY GIFTS	$             40.00	$             20.00	$                  20.00
ENTERTAINMENT MONEY	$          200.00	$           100.00	$               100.00
REGULAR SAVINGS	$          800.00	$           400.00	$               400.00
SPENDING MONEY	$          240.00	$           120.00	$               120.00
SCHOOL LOANS	$          450.00	$           225.00	$               225.00
EXTRA DEBT PAYMENTS	$       1,600.00	$           700.00	$               900.00
CAR LOAN	$          250.00	$           125.00	$               125.00
CREDIT CARD DEBT	$             50.00	$             25.00	$                  25.00
TOTAL EXPENSES	$       8,119.00	$       3,959.50	$            4,159.50
TOTALS
	MONTHLY	PAYCHECK 1	PAYCHECK 2
TOTAL INCOME:	$       8,200.00	$       4,000.00	$            4,200.00
TOTAL EXPENSES:	$       8,119.00	$       3,959.50	$            4,159.50
REMAINDER:	$             81.00	$             40.50	$                  40.50

Beginning Net Worth Statement

As I mentioned yesterday, one of my financial goals is to have a positive Net Worth by the end of the year. To calculate your net worth, you add up all of your assets everything you own (cash value) and then subtract your liabilities (any debts you have).

How are we going to raise our net worth?

We will continue paying off debt  (approximately $1,000 per month), continue contributing to savings (about $200 per month), and continue contributing to retirement account (only about $45 per month until our debt is gone). With all of these transactions, we should have a positive net worth by the end of the year.

To start off the year, we have a net worth of -$12,037.02. We have $33,476.04 in assets and $45,513.06 in liabilities. A majority of our assets are not liquid, meaning the cash is tied up in items and not cash. A majority of our debt is school loans, and our next largest loan is a car loan. We don't carry a balance on our credit card. (We pay our credit card off every month, but the payment just hasn't posted for this month yet.) 

If you have any comments or questions, feel free to leave a comment.