I have been trying, since I bought my domain name and started this website, to write a guide to creating a simple, easy budget.
Every time I sit down to do it, ten minutes later I find myself (or my mind) wandering off. This is immensely frustrating, but I’ve decided that part of the problem is that without knowing you (the reader) or your specific situation, it’s nearly impossible for me to explain to you how to set up a budget.
The very, very basics of a budget are easy:
- How much you make each month
- How much you spend each month
- … on Needs (Rent/Mortgage, Utilities, Debts, etc.)
- … on Wants (Eating Out, Entertainment, Books, Clothes, etc.)
- How much you can save/invest/give to charity each month
It’s where to go from there that gets a little more complicated, and that’s what’s been frustrating me, because I can’t write a simple page or post that says, “If you want a budget, follow these five steps,” because what if you earn a salary, and you don’t know how to figure out how much you earn each a month? Or what if you make cash tips, and you don’t know to to keep track of your cash spending? There are just too many variables, even amongst my “target audience” to be able to write a “creating a simple budget” page that would be useful to anyone.
So, instead I’m going to write several posts, each of them addressing a different aspect of creating a budget. I’m going to gather them all for your reference on a page I’m calling “Budgeting Basics: The Very, Very Basics and Where to go from Here.”
If you have any questions about this upcoming series, or if there’s anything you feel I forgot or left out, please let me know.
