Monthly Budget
Getting Organized and Prepared

Overall, the best way to avoid financial difficulties is to have a clear idea of your personal finances. To get this information, prepare an expected budget for the next few months and then monitor your actual expenses over the same time period. This process allows you to develop a Monthly Budget for you and your family. A draft Monthly Budget Form is located below to assist you with this process.

Preparing a budget is the starting point to gather information that you need in order to take charge and examine your spending patterns. Review your budget critically to determine what, if any, items you can cut out to make your average monthly income match your expenses. Can you increase your level of income or can you decrease your expenses?

Once your budget is balanced, you should make a plan to attack your personal debt. Look at the interest rates that you are being charged on the different types of debt that you have. Interest rates on credit cards (Visa, MasterCard etc.) are typically less than those of charge cards (Sears, the Bay etc.), while the cheapest source of debt is generally a Personal Line of Credit.

Click on the following link to download the Monthly Budget Form.