Three Steps to Creating a Budget

Financial stress can bring anyone down. Having a household budget can help combat some of that tension and help you be on your way to cash relief. Below are three easy steps to creating a flawless budget.

Identify how you're spending money now. Keep track of your receipts and keep a spreadsheet to log every expense. This may seem time consuming in the beginning, but will become less tedious as you become accustomed to the process.

Evaluate your past spending to set goals for any future spending. It may be difficult to see how you have been spending in the past since you weren’t tracking before, but read through your bank statements to create an estimated idea of where your money has been going. Then, choose where you can make cuts or eliminate expenses that are unnecessary.

Track your spending to make sure it stays within those guidelines. As you begin tracking your expenses, evaluate the spending every month to be sure that you’re staying within your goal budget.