Get Out of Debt- Planning a Monthly Budget

Planning a budget is the first step anyone needs to take in order to get out of debt. Many people have no idea where their money is really going each month! Taking the time to write down each and every place your income is coming from and going to will help you move forward to take the necessary measures to get yourself out of debt. To most people, the thought of planning a budget can be overwhelming at first. There are easy to use resources that you can find online to help you get started.

A great tool in starting to plan your budget is to use a budget worksheet online. This way you will easily be able to enter all your information, and have the totals right in front of you with the click of a button. You can find simple budget worksheets online through VISA, The Washington Post, CNN, and many other sources. Many online budget worksheets also give you the options to email your budget information, so you can quickly provide the information to your spouse or family members.

The basic simple budget worksheet first calculates your total monthly income. You will need to provide your monthly net income after taxes, bonuses and any other additional pay you may receive, income from investments, child support or other payments you receive, and any additional additional sources of income. All of these factors will then be added together by the calculator.

Then, you will use the worksheet to calculate your total monthly expenses. You will need to provide your total monthly rent or mortgage payments, utilities like gas and electric bills, home telephone payments, cell phone payments, cable television payments, Internet service payments, car loan and insurance payments, groceries, restaurant or take out charges including coffee, other loan payments, commute expenses like train passes or tolls, gas, parking fees, health insurance, other insurance costs, home maintenance charges, laundry and dry cleaning, child care costs, tuition or education expenses, entertainment fees like books and movies, clothing, vacations, gifts, pet care, gym memberships, other memberships, religious or charitable donations, and any other expenses you might have. All of these factors will be added together by the calculator.

You will then be able to subtract your total monthly expenses from your total monthly income, so you can see exactly where you stand on a monthly basis - whether you have a positive monthly balance or a negative monthly balance. Once you take a look at your cash flow from different areas of income and expenditure each month, you will be able to assess and hopefully to make adjustments where they are needed.

Source: Ezine Articles