How to Make a Budget
Written by: Milan G.
Keeping a budget is undoubtedly one of the most important methods when it comes to staying on track with your money and staying financially stable. It turns out that only 3 in 5 Americans don’t know what they've spent last month along with having one-third of Americans say they regret how much they've spent according to mint.intuit.com. Managing money can be stressful for most and keeping a budget makes it more helpful and less of a hassle so here are some steps to take so you can budget!
1. Noting Income - understating the amount of monthly income you earn is needed in order to create an organized list of living expenses. Make sure to deduct when it comes to taxes, 401(k), and social security.
2. Deciding Importance- As we all know some things are more important than others in life, this will impact your budget going forward. Things that are more important deserve more funds while less important things can be skipped.
3. Doing The Numbers- At this stage you can divide your income among all your expenses like housing, gas, phone bill, etc. Be sure to set some aside in savings though. A calculator and a spreadsheet will be helpful and don’t be afraid to look for help if you’re struggling.
4. Revisions- You might not get it right the first time so coming back to your budget to adjust the amounts you want to spend on things will help keep you surviving and thriving. Going back to fix errors will save you a whole lot of money while a bad budget will drain your pockets.
5. Sticking to It- The most important part of budgeting aside from the budget itself is to adhere to it. Saying you’ll save extra money or spend less on something is one thing, but doing so takes a whole lot more effort and will. At this stage you will have successfully planned, corrected and adhered to your budget.
As you can see from this infographic budgets are not only for personal use, they are also used by governments and corporations. This widespread use of budgeting highlights the importance of it as well as demonstrates that there careers in budgeting. The contents of this infographic when applied to the real world will have had a vast impact on society. A personal budget’s impact is also very important but not on quite as large a scale as a federal budget or corporate budget.
I hope that in this post I have truly gotten across the importance of budgeting and how to properly do so. Going forward I wish you all good luck in your budgeting pursuits. One must properly budget lest they suffer the consequences of poor finances.
Works Cited
Better Money Habits. “Creating a Budget with a Personal Budget Spreadsheet.” Better Money Habits, Bank of America, 5 Mar. 2021, bettermoneyhabits.bankofamerica.com/en/saving-budgeting/creating-a-budget.
Vohwinkle, Jeremy. “Your 6-Step Guide to Making a Personal Budget.” The Balance, 6 Oct. 2020, www.thebalance.com/how-to-make-a-budget-1289587.
I agree that sticking to a budget is one of the most important things to learn when you're going to start dealing with your own finances, and I really apricated the ways you listed to budget. Do you know of anything like an app that can further help someone keep track of their money, and budget better?
ReplyDeleteMilan, I really liked your post and will actually be using some of your tips to help myself make a budget and stick to it. I feel as though if I create a budget, I'll be saving a lot more. I definitely fall into that 3/5 American category, because I don't really keep track of my month-to-month spending. Your blog post was easy to read and very informational!
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading your blog. I think that budgeting is one of, if not the most important thing that we have talked about in this class. Budgeting is what will keep you on track with your financial goals and I agree that it can be very hard to stick to your budget, however if you do stick to your budget, the rewards are immense.
ReplyDeleteI really like this piece. We are working on a big project all about budgeting which makes this post very useful. I like that you use a pie chart to help show what a budget could actually look like. As you move closer to adult life, is there anything that you are doing that might help make it easier to budget in the future?
ReplyDeleteI found this piece to be very helpful in my journey to budgeting. I've always struggled coming up with steps to take action since saying and budgeting has always been a struggle. The pie chart was a nice touch because it provided the reader a visual of what a budget may look like on a bigger scale than just personally.
ReplyDeleteThis is a great blog post for what we are learning in this class and I agree that having a budget is very helpful for life after school and adult life in general. I agree with how you have your budget set up it is effective and helpful.
ReplyDeleteI really liked this post. It was very informative on how to make a budget. I liked how you gave a numbered order with steps to make a budget. Is this a system that you use already or plan on using?
ReplyDeleteIt was very helpful that you set up the Blog in a step by step fashion. Creating a budget can be a difficult thing to do so simplifying it as much as possible feel like the most likely way to do so. I can imaging creating the budget is only half the battle the other half is making sure you stick to it.
ReplyDeleteI really liked this post. It was very informative on how to make a budget. I liked how you gave a numbered order with steps to make a budget. Is this a system that you use already or plan on using?
ReplyDeleteI really liked this post. It was very informative on how to make a budget. I liked how you gave a numbered order with steps to make a budget. Is this a system that you use already or plan on using?
ReplyDeleteI found this post very insightful because being in personal finance has made me more aware of how much money I have been spending and how much money I have been making. I have been trying to budget but it is hard to know where to start. This post is very helpful with your numbered steps and explaining each step in further detail. This will definitely help me and I am sure other students in the future.
ReplyDeleteThere was a wealth of knowledge and tons of techniques that help one be more aware of their financial situation. You seemed incredibly knowledgeable regarding this topic and the system you suggested seems well proven.
ReplyDeleteThis right here made me pull out google sheets and get my investments down on some paper! thanks to you I can now budget like a boss!
ReplyDeleteI really like this post that you made. You gave a surplus of information regarding budgeting and made the whole idea of budgeting very clear, even for one that may not be as aware with what budgeting is/ what it entails. The writing itself was very clear and easy to read. I really liked how you used bullets to make your blog easier to read.
ReplyDeleteI think step 5 is definitely the most difficult to follow through on. These steps are for planning your budget while step 5 requires real action. I agree that it's the most important step too. This post was very helpful because it explained why budgets are necessary.
ReplyDeleteThis blog has made me think more on budgeting. I never thought of it like that, since I am only in high school I tend to spend my money however I please and I buy pointless items. Reading how budgeting can stablize you in your future is something that has peaked my interest. When you said, "Saying you’ll save extra money or spend less on something is one thing, but doing so takes a whole lot more effort and will." I could relate to that since I would verbally make a commitment to not go out and spend a lot of money but actually sticking with that commitment was and is something I and unable to achieve. With this new knowledge I will try and budget what I spend currently so that I can get the basics down for when I need to budget when I am an adult.
ReplyDeleteYou definitely laid out the proper steps to making a budget in an easy to understand way. I especially like how you emphasized that you probably won't get it right the first time, and that it is okay to ask for help and make revisions. Budgeting is important to making sure that you can live well and maintaining that, so this was very helpful.
ReplyDeleteGreat Post
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