How to Draw a Personal Budget that Works

Many people spend their little income haphazardly without any planning and end up getting broke before month-end. They then borrow to make ends meet and end up with more problems that they fail to repay their debts promptly.

However, this is not a prudent way of managing your personal financial affairs. Planning your personal financial affairs through prioritization of needs and budgeting income and expenses is the best way to achieving success in managing your financial affairs.

It is important first to assess your financial needs in the short, medium and long term. What are your financial objectives? What do you want to achieve in the course of time? Do you have any targets? What is your short, medium and long term needs? List all of them down.

Next categorize income and expenses on a monthly basis. Then prioritize expenses into most important, important and most important. You can use any other weighting or prioritization formula that works best for you.

After this assess costs based on consumption per month. Put figures to the expense items. Then write down your income sources and the amount you earn per month from them. List the income on the left and the expenses on the right. Add up income amounts against expense amounts and find the difference to determine surplus or deficit.

Once you have added and reduced items and figures several times and you are finally satisfied with the results, type your figures on a computer spreadsheet or word processor table and save it. You may also print it and file it for regular reference.

To make it work successfully for you, you must vow to stick to the budget. Any deviation must be absolutely necessary and funds should be made available separately to meet the extra expenditure. Where no funds are available, some cutbacks or borrowing from other expense votes. You should ensure that you refund any funds borrowed from any expense votes to enable the votes to be expended.

To be frank, most people would want to spend more and more irrespective of their financial ability. However, arbitrary unbudgeted spending may be hazardous to your financial health.

About The Author

Abdallah Khamis Abdallah is a freelance copywriter and ghostwriter. To learn more about how you and your business can benefit from viral and credibility marketing solutions visit his website at: http://www.qualitywritingsolutions.com, quantumpro@lycos.com

---

Five Secrets for Long-term Financial Success

Future financial success is not a guarantee that any one... Read More

Budgeting your Savings - Did You Let Your Piggy Bank Get Away?

I think most of us have at some point in... Read More

The Wright Place - Finances

Women have a love/hate relationship with money. Most of us... Read More

A Quck Lesson in Saving Money

Did you have a piggy bank when you were a... Read More

Healthy Eating On A Budget

It is possible to eat a healthy, balanced diet without... Read More

The Origins of Check Writing

People haven't always written checks to buy goods and services.... Read More

Know Thy Finances

The first step to financial success lies in knowing your... Read More

Saving Money - The Magic 20 Percent

Saving money is not easy and is made more difficult... Read More

Money Matters: Strengthen Your Marriage by Putting Finances in Order

Did you know that 43% of all married couples argue... Read More

Saving Dimes Can Go a Long Way

On the other hand, there are those people who are... Read More

Vesting and Your 401(k)

Do you have a 401(k) retirement account? Are you vested... Read More

Estate Planning Basics

You have probably accomplished a great deal with your life.... Read More

Do You Really Need the Power of Money Management Software?

I have been a loyal user of Quicken(R) for more... Read More

Save Your Money, Dont Give to Charity Scammers

**If it's Spam, it's a Scam!- If it sounds too... Read More

Planning Ahead with Your Finances

If you, like most people, have not seriously considered what... Read More

10 Tips To Save Money When Dining Out

Here are some tips that can help you save money... Read More

I Want to Buy a Home - Now What?

If you were to ask 100 women "What would you... Read More

Debt Management ? Watch Out for Bank Fees!

During the last twenty years, banks have offered a number... Read More

Live Green; Save Green!

Have you seen the recent article on a new "green"... Read More

Save Money Off Your Home Utility Bills

Many don't realize that our basic utility bills provide the... Read More

How To Free-Up 10% to 15% of Your Income

Would you be interested in freeing up 10% to 15%... Read More

What Happens if You Die Without Making a Will

If you die without making a Will in the UK,... Read More

Debt Management ? More Ways to Save on Gas Consumption

The price of gas continues to climb, and with continued... Read More

Car Donations and Used Car Donations

Car donations and used car donations are the way many... Read More

How to Save for A Down Payment

Saving for a Down Payment is hard work, so it's... Read More