1. Budgeting Basics - Introduction
  2. Budgeting Basics - What Is Budgeting?
  3. Budgeting Basics - Setting Up A Budget
  4. Budgeting Basics - Budget Boot Camp
  5. Budgeting Basics - Budgeting Tips
  6. Budgeting Basics - Goal Setting
  7. Budgeting Basics - Mistakes To Avoid
  8. Budgeting Basics - Maintaining Your Budget
  9. Budgeting Basics - Conclusion

By Amy Fontinelle

What is budgeting? Many people think of budgeting as something to do when they're short on cash. College students might budget to figure out how to make do with their high expenses and limited incomes and minimize how much they need to borrow. People who are supporting themselves for the first time create budgets to make sure they're properly allocating their first paychecks among emergency savings, retirement savings, student loan repayments, rent and utilities, and rewards for their hard work like new gadgets and nights on the town. Young couples trying to figure out how to afford a wedding, or newlyweds wondering how to fit the expense of buying a house or having a child into their monthly cash flow, are also likely to make budgets.

Budgets are commonly associated with people of all ages who are barely able to make ends meet, but the truth is that budgeting isn't just for times when your money is tight or your life is undergoing a major transition. Budgeting is for everyone, rich and poor, young and old. In fact, budgeting will be that much easier in times of change or financial stress if you do it all the time. Where do you think a Fortune 500 company like Amazon would be today without proper budgeting? What about wealthy people like Warren Buffett? There's no way that he or his holding company, Berkshire Hathaway, could have achieved such success without paying attention to their monthly, quarterly and annual cash inflow and outflow. Budgeting won't just get you out of a rut – it can also help you get rich.


Make Long- and Short-Term Projections about Your Personal Finances
A budget will help you plan for short-term expenses such as your monthly bills, mid-term expenses such as vacations, and long-term expenses such as buying a house, paying for a child's college education or putting money away for retirement. When you have an app, spreadsheet or notebook in front of you showing how much money you expect to make over the one month, six months, one year or five years, how much of that money will be flowing out and how much you will have left to save each month, you'll always know when you need to cut back on spending, when you can afford to loosen the reins and how long it will take to save for major goals or pay off debts. If you're not happy with the numbers, knowing what they are will help you take steps to improve your situation, whether that means focusing on paying off credit cards to increase your monthly cash flow, reducing your food expenses, or getting a promotion, switching companies, starting a side hustle or starting your own full-time business to make more money. (For more, read Increase Your Disposable Income.)

Prevent a Crisis
Let's say a significant expense arises unexpectedly: maybe you develop a serious toothache and your dentist informs you that you'll need a root canal and a crown. While you may have dental insurance through work, you're still going to have to fork over at least $500 out-of-pocket to get the work done. How can a budget help you handle an expense like this? (For related reading, see Should You Bite on Dental Insurance?)


Your budget will also give you an idea of how long it will take you to replenish your depleted savings once you pay for your dental care. How much can you set aside per month to restore your emergency fund? (For more insight, read Build Yourself An Emergency Fund.)

Get the Most Out of Your Money

A budget helps you track all your expenses, large and small. It lets you find out how much you spend on everything from coffee breaks to gasoline to clothes. If you discover that you're spending $500 a month on clothes and that horrifies you because you haven't been able to afford a vacation in three years and you don’t have an emergency fund, you'll know what to do. And because you know where your money's going and you'll continue to track it, you'll finally be able to save up for both the vacation and the unexpected expenses life will inevitably throw at you.

Plan for Major Changes
As mentioned earlier, a budget lets you model in advance how a major purchase or life change will affect your finances. Instead of wondering if you can afford a house or panicking about whether you and your spouse can afford to live on one income while the other is laid off or staying home to raise a child, you'll have the data you need to crunch the numbers. You'll find out before you make any change whether you can afford a major life change and what sacrifices you might need to make. You can start saving for a down payment, plan for one partner to get a second job, research whether child care would be less expensive than continuing to work, and so on. (For more on finances, read Get Your Finances In Order.)

Experience the Freedom of Having Money in the Bank

Those stops might include:

  • taking time out of the workforce, full time or part time, to raise a child
  • starting your own business
  • quitting your high-paying corporate job to pursue your low-paying dream job
  • going back to school
  • studying a foreign language overseas
  • taking an extended vacation

Budgeting makes it easier to achieve all of these goals! It’s a means to finding a way to pay for everything you need and everything you want, whether what you want is to travel the world, buy a mansion, raise a family or survive unemployment.

Now that you know why you need a budget, let's talk about how to set one up. We even give you a downloadable spreadsheet and suggested apps to get started.

Budgeting Basics - Setting Up A Budget
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