Using a Budget Sheet to Improve Your Financial Situation
Finding out the state of your finances is the purpose of writing down
your income and expenses on a budget sheet. A budget sheet can be a
simple piece of paper where expenses and income for the month are listed
in two columns. Add up the two columns and you can quickly see if you
are like most people and your expenses are greater then your income.
Once you have all your financial information written down it makes it
much easier to see where all the spending is occurring. This will give
you a chance to get any financial messes under control and allow you to
curb bad spending habits that will undoubtedly be clear on the budget
sheet. Once you do that you can start telling your money what to do,
which gives you control over your financial future.
For those who are new or intimidated by the idea of making a budget it
is actually quite easy to do. Budgeting is just a form of basic
accounting and does not require any special math skills. All you need is
to make your own budget sheets is a pencil and paper. On the left side
make a column and label it the current "Months Income." Be sure to list
all the months' income such as salary, alimony, interest income, child
support and any other non job related income.
On the right hand side of your budget sheet label this column the
current "Months Expenses." This where attention to detail needs to be
paid because missing anything on the expense side can seriously screw up
anybody's monthly budget. Be sure to write down each expense as it
happens or at least every day. This will give you a daily snap shot of
your financial situation and help gain back control of expenses that
previously were unaccounted for. As you get comfortable with the process
it will become much easier, particularly when you start to see your
finances change for the better.
Do this every month, keeping your budget sheets updated and you will
begin to see trends in household income and spending. You will be better
prepared for those months when expenses are higher, say when property
taxes are due or insurance payments need to be made. This will allow you
to plan ahead for those months when expenses are higher then usual.
Budget sheets are extremely helpful for any number of financial needs.
They give you a month by month breakdown of your finances that can be
used at income tax time, for retirement planning, college planning, and
even for planning next years vacation. If you are disciplined enough to
keep monthly budget sheets your financial situation will improve in a
relatively short amount of time. | 
