Since you are reading this online I am going to assume that you know what a spreadsheet (Excel is one) is. You don’t have to make the spreadsheet fancy or anything. You could if you want but a one without the bells and whistles will do just fine.
Start in the second row and first column and type in the name of your major expense for the month, it is probably your rent or house payment. Go down the first column and put the name of each expense going from biggest cost to least cost.
This is where your records from part II will come in handy. If you kept good records it will be easy to copy them over to the spreadsheet. When you think that have everything typed in the first column, type Misc. as the last entry. There are always expenses that come up that you don’t expect. Whenever there is an unexpected expense type it in under Misc.
Now across the top row type in the days of month this will be your guide as to when to type in the expense. If your mortgage payment is due the 5 day of the month and you pay it on the 5th put in the expense that matches the 5th day column and the mortgage row expense.
Pretty simple, just follow that till the end of the month. And to total your expenses you will need to go to the toolbar of excel (or whatever spreadsheet you are using) and find the autosum icon. Select the whole row of numbers (except the name of the expense and drag it beyond the last day of the month. Click on autosum and the total will be given. When you finish all the rows, then drag all the numbers in the last column and you will find the grand total.
Now under the grand total type in how much income you had for the month. Do you have any money left over?
Part IV will discuss how to make the budget work for you.
