What should I do before beginning to design my budget?
491760
Estimate your income and your expenses. For your expenses, determine the things you NEED to pay (rent, utilities, food, etc.) and then budget what is left for other things (savings, entertainment, clothing, etc.).
66736
You need a budget.  Prior to every month, plan a budget based on all income for the month.  Assign every dollar you'll be getting to an expense or savings.  Then stick to the budget.  If something unexpected comes up (car repair, medical bill) then revisit and adjust the budget prior to spending the money.  Never spend money not planned for with the budget.\n\nGet an emergency fund to handle small emergencies, pay off any debt you owe, and follow the budget.  You'll be saving in no time.
390547
Start by writing down everything you spend your money on for at least a week - a month is best, then go from there!
64775
First you need to write everything you pay for in a month in a notebook. This will tell you where some of your spending problems are. After this create a  budget. Leave your self spending money so you don't feel like your depriving yourself. Many people will not leave anything for themselves , feel bad, and blow their budget. If you have credit cards put them in a metal coffee can and freeze them. This will take some of the impulse out of your spending because while you are taking the time to thaw them out you are really thinking whether or not the item is worth it. Thats why you put it in a metal can so you can't use the microwave. Lastly remember to pay yourself first. Always make sure to put something away in savings. If you can do this with direct deposit, I would recommend this highly so that after a couple of weeks you won't even remember that you had it. Good Luck:)
144695
Budget\nSet your goals - What do you want to buy?\nWhat is your income?\nWhat do you have to spend - food, transport, clothing, tax.\nHow much can I save each week.\nCan I save enough to get what I want, when I want it.\nCan I allow for some extra spending and still reach my goal.
213592
The first thing you need to create is a budget.\n\nWrite down the diferent  categories of spending starting form the essentials to the non essentials, like this\n\nRent/housing $\nUtilities Electricity\nUtilities Water\nPhone/Cellular\n\nFood/groceries\nCleaning supplies\n\nCar payment\nCar insurance\nCar gas\n\nOther living essentials\n\nThen go to the non essentials like;\nCable\neating out\nmovies\nmagazines\netc.\n\nWrite down what you spend for 2 months, then you will know where the money is going. From here decide how much you want to put into each category, like;\n\nSavings $20.00 per week\nClothing $20.00 per week\nAuto repair $10 per week\nand so on, add your own categories as needed then put money into that account and when you have enough for what you want to purchase go and get it. \n\nThis way you will have teken care of the priority payments and then know how much you can afford to play with.\n\nGood luck
374182
First you need to know what your net income is.  In case you don't know what this is:  Net income is the income after taxes (remember we have to pay Uncle Sam first) and other deductions.\n\nYou'll also need to know the expenses you have per month. \n\nI'll give you a typical budget.\n\nExample for a Monthly budget:\n\n2500.00 Net Income\n\n0850.00 Rent or Mortgage\n0100.00 House insurance\n0100.00 Gas\n0050.00 Phone\n0050.00 Electricity\n0040.00 Cell phone\n0250.00 Food\n0100.00 Clothes\n\n1540.00 Total expenses\n\n0960.00 Balance\n\nThere are expenses that you cannot change.  For instance, the rent or mortgage do not vary  unless you move somewhere else or get a new mortgage.\n\nEverything else on this budget can be changed.  \n\nIf you see that you don't have enough money to pay the rent, then don't eat out that much, don't buy those extra pair of sneakers just because they were beautiful.\n\nIn the above budget, you have 960.00 extra per month.  You can choose to spend it all on beautiful sneakers.  I would advise you to save some of it for a rainy day. After all, 950.00 on sneakers is pretty high.  Don't you think?\n\nBesides, if you don't own a house now, maybe you'll want to save it for a house. I don't know.  Maybe you prefer to go on a vacation.  My point is:  DO NOT SPEND ALL YOUR MONEY UNLESS YOU HAVE TO.  ONE DAY YOU MIGHT NEED IT.\n\nOf course, your budget might differ from above.  I  did not take diapers for your toddlers into consideration.  Neither did I take medical costs, babysitters, or entertainment into consideration.  \n\nI figure that this is enough for you to see how a budget works.  \n\nRemember, if your income is greater than your expenses, don't spend what you have left on stupid things.\n\nIf your income is less than your expenses, you are in big trouble.  Therefore, cut down on the expenses.\n\nKeep in mind, however, that sometimes you need to spend money on stupid things.  They nourish your soul.
80365
First step is to review what you are spending money on.  Prepare a budget and stick to it.  Most people that have money, made it by saving it.  They did not start a business or own one.\n\nSecond step would be to improve your education/training.  Many companies will pay for the training.\n\nThird step would be consider a government position.  The town/city/county/state government positions will include a pension/state retirement.  This will mean that you are saving for your retirement even though you are not actively saving because it is mandatory for government employees.
839951
Budget, Budget, Budget.  You need to sit down and write up a budget.  If it ain't on the list and isn't absolutely required then it ain't gettin' done.  As you get used to this each pay period you'll get better at listing everything and estimating bills.  As you go through the month you'll be surprised at how much you'll be tempted to spend on non-requirements.  Make sure you factor in entertainment and food into your budget.  Budget is not a dirty word.  After you do it a few times you'll see it's not a burden.  BTW, get rid of that car or pay if off ASAP.  Alot of people retire poor because they always have a car payment.
665444
to do a budget you need to look at all of your outgoing expenses.... \n\nRent-----\n\nElectric ---\n\nGas ----\n\nPhone -----\n\nGroceries ----\n\nChild Care ----\n\nInternet Service  ---\n\nCar Payment -----\n\nCar Insurance----\n\nCredit Cards -----\n\nMedical Insurance ---\n\nExpected Monthly Medical Expenses ----\n\nSavings ----\n\n~~if you need more help than this click on my avatar, and either IM me or e-mail me with a place where i could send an attachment, i have a sample budget form i could send you.~~
462188
Look in templetes and choose the budget one :-)\nYou can also download templetes from microsoft for free\nhttp://office.microsoft.com/en-us/templates/CT011377161033.aspx\nhttp://office.microsoft.com/en-us/templates/CT011377041033.aspx
396011
Setup expense categories budget, i.e. rent, electricity, food etc and after you subtract all of these expenses , you might end up with extra fund . Use that fund and call it others expenses or saving. You will use this category to cover non routine expenses or that you never through of such as car fixing. One important is to stick to your budget and never exceeding each.   \n\nExample \nSalary:           1000\nRent   200\nFood  175\n<<<\n<<<\n  ___\nTotal Expenses           955\nTotal Saving   45\n\nCall that 45 – Other Expenses
452198
depending on how far you want to go. You can make it simple and cheap, or you can go all out and spend thousands. I would keep it around 500 dollars and keep the other money you were going to spend to live on.
21412
how much you should spend depends on a few things. what is your income. how much have you spent in previous years. and how much total you have to work with. if you are a starving artist...don't spend 300 dollars. if you usually spend 300 bucks, don't start spending 50 now. and you also need to consider if you have 5 other people to buy for, or 25 other people to buy for. \nonce all of this is considered you should have a better idea of what to spend. \nneed some gift ideas? i don't know you or her...so i can't give specifics...but i will tell you that maybe it would you should think about whether you are going to buy 1 100 dollar gift or spend 20 bucks a piece and get her 5 gifts. think about it. \nand good luck.
565018
Make a list separately of what you both want, enjoy, need - pay no attention to order or anything Else. Then get together and compare, here you can eliminate or even add to a single list you agree on. Then place them in order of importance, please no arguing - if it is important to you (or him) then it is - no matter what you (or he) thinks. Now we have a list, next place a time next to them. House - 3 years, vacation - 1 year etc. Then put dollar amounts next to them - house deposit needed $10,000 divide that by 36 (3yearsx12) you now have a monthly value. Once you have done this you will see that you have monthly values for the things you are trying to do. Then add up everything and get a monthly total. You'll either have enough to do it all or not enough to do it all. Then sit down again and work out what you can eliminate or reduce - going to the bar (or whatever) once every two months is cheaper than going every week(or night!). House deposit in 4 years instead of three etc - Once you can see what you can achieve, and you are both on board, then it is easy to do. This may take a few talks, so get coffee and cookies and sit in a nice and comfortable room. \nThe idea is to give your spouse something they want, and help them understand in order to get it, they need to save/cut back/stick to budget - whatever term works best - to get it. Where 'it' is something they (and you as a couple) agree is worth saving for.\nGood Luck!
60236
Use software like Excel by yourself to manage your daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly and yearly expense.  Do monthly comparisons to know why do you spend more this month vs. last month and suggest yourself where to cut cost in the coming months.  After a few monthes later, you would be in control and have an overview of your financial status and a clear prospect of how much you would save in the future.
683610
You have to estimate all your monthly expenses, add them together, and subtract that from your total monthly income after taxes. You should remember some emergency funds and some "fun funds" as well as the basic necessities like food and rent, car insurance, etc.