Understanding Personal Finances: Tips for Making a Money Makeover Budget

The Most Important Thing to Understand

This assignment is for you, about you, and the only thing that matters is the value you get from it. So there is no right or wrong way to complete this assignment, and you are encouraged to use your own creativity to alter these directions as you see fit to make sure you get the most out of it. This assignment can be life changing, and only you have the power to make it that way!

I respect your privacy. This project is about your personal finances. If you do not wish to share that with me, then all you have to do is make up the information. Not only is that OK, but I have no way of knowing the accuracy of the information. With that being said, I promise not to share this with anyone, not to examine it anymore than just checking for completion, and to only read it once. You get more out of this assignment if you use real facts, but it’s your decision to weigh applicability vs privacy, and I respect it either way.

Record your predictable income sources, such as a biweekly paycheck.

Record your random income, such as gifts, tax refunds, government stimulus or from selling belongings.

Record your predictable expenses such as monthly bills, groceries/food, and gas. Even if your monthly bills are not exactly the same every month (like electric bills),use over estimates for the spreadsheet (as in the highest the bill may be).

Record your random expenses, such as car repairs, replacing appliances, or medical bills, that you have little control over.

Record variable expenses (where you choose to spend your extra money)such as shopping, entertainment, and gambeling.

Using Google Sheets, subtract your expenses from your income, and see if you have any extra money leftover, or if you are spending more than you take in.

Make a budget for each category of expenses. Be as specific as possible and honest! Examples of categories: fast-food, restaurants, Starbucks, Publix, alcohol, toys for children, medicine, car, video games, and so on. Remember, really thinking about where you choose to spend your money is the most important part of taking charge of your finances!

Make sure there is at least in your emergency fund to pay for random expenses.  When some of the emergency fund is used, it is the top priority to immediately replace it. Since emergencies happen all the time, set aside money every month to go towards the emergency fund and include that in the budget.  “Something unusual happens, usually” --NNT

Make a budget to save up for big purchases, such as vacations or furniture. Remember the most important lesson from the Makeover: no more debt! If you want something, save up for it. If you can’t pay for it without a monthly loan or credit card payment, you can’t afford it and should not buy it!

List all your debts, from smallest to largest, and make sure there is money in your budget to pay them off (beyond the minimum payments) every month in that order.