Page 22 - How To Set Up a Family Budget The Easy Way

most accurate information is recorded. This will give a realistic and real-time estimate that is
reliable and accurate.

In this section, you need to ask yourself how much each item on your list actually costs how
much each item costs you a month.

The following estimates and guidelines could prove helpful to you as you set up your family

budget:
 Monthly bills that stay the same – car and rental payments

 Monthly bills that change – utilities, phones and more. Find costs per month for say six
months, add them up. Take this number you have calculated and divide it by six (the
amount of months) to get your average cost. This is the number you will be using for
your budgetary exercise.

 Bills that come every three or six months – the number for every month will be used in
your budgetary process.

 Bills that come annually, meaning once a year – divide the amount by 12 months. The
answer is your monthly budget number.

 Bills that come more than once a month – food, gas, lunch and family fun. This is a
category to watch very closely, as it is a contributor to this “bottomless pit”, we
sometimes feel and see our cash disappear into.

 Unexpected expenditures or surprise bills – what you can afford to set aside as a buffer or
emergency, contingency fund - (look at the last three years or so and see what kind of
unexpected expenses you and your family faced). Use an estimate that makes sense to
you and divide the annual number by twelve months to get your monthly number.

 Finding out if monthly expenses match monthly take-home pay

Compare your total expenses with your take-home pay. A couple of results and scenarios could
be staring you in the face:

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