To start a budget, it's important to list all of your expenses. I break these down into 4 categories: needs, wants, obligations, and savings.
Needs are the basic things that you need for survival, like shelter and food. Wants are the little extras that make life comfortable, like restaurant meals, clothes (not that clothes aren't needed lol), and beauty splurges. Obligations are mainly debts, like credit cards or car payments that you have to make a payment on each month. Finally, Savings includes money you set aside for your emergency fund or put into a retirement account.
Once you have all of your expense areas listed, make an estimate of how much you spend in each area in a typical month. This will be your guide as you spend money during the course of the month, so be sure that you consider your income in making your estimates. Finally, the last step is to track your spending during the month.
To help you guys out, I've created a simple budget template to get you started:
Download the Excel Budget Template by clicking HERE
Input your income, estimates, and what you actually spend in a month. Feel free to add any additional expenses under the needs, wants, obligations, and savings categories. There is a line at the bottom that measures your "net income" (income subtracted by your expenses); hopefully at the end of the month this number is 0 or greater. If you spend more than you earn, then your net income will become a "net loss" and the number will red (a negative number). Also, there is a pie chart on the second page of the worksheet that shows you what percentage of your spending is going to each area.
Hope this helps! If you have any questions about the template, budgeting, or any financial topic let me know in the comments.
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