Comments on: How to create a workable budget

By: Kate

Kate — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 21:33:41 +0000

@Corporate Barbarian- I use excel for my budget too! For me its the best way to keep track and with a few easy formulas, it does the work for you! Also, it’s a heck of a lot cheaper than buying a program like Quicken. Once upon a time, I thought coming up with a monthly budget would be stressful, but I realized that instead of adding stress it acutally reduces it. So much better to know where your money is going. Thank goodness I read the Power of Small and discovered that sweating the small stuff is the best way to deal with the big stuff! :)

By: bluntmoney

bluntmoney — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 18:00:02 +0000

Jamie, you’re right, that’s a good thing to add. I actually have it in my own plan but somehow I left it off the example.

By: Jamie

Jamie — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 17:12:14 +0000

Where’s the line item for disability and life insurance? It’s a huge part of our budget.

By: Ken

Ken — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 01:33:27 +0000

Thanks for the detailed example…my budget is going to change in the near future…I’m going to be a homeowner and no longer a renter. Good post!

By: Corporate Barbarian

Corporate Barbarian — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 16:51:11 +0000

I’ve been keeping a weekly budget on an Excel spreadsheet for the last 14 years. I group the individual expenses under larger categories, keeping household expenses separate from credit cards, etc. This allows me to get a subtotal by category. I list the expenses down the left side, and the week ending date across the top from left to right. I have a separate sheet for each year. I can just copy the worksheet to create a new year, and do a pro forma projection based on the prior year’s expenses.

By: Craig

Craig — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 15:42:18 +0000

I believe most people would say for all major expenses and bills you should put 60% towards, and like you mention 10%-15% towards retirement, and the rest can be scattered.