Income and Expenses

When you’re ready to create a budget, start with your monthly income. That’s the amount of money you have to work with in your budget.

Add up what you earn each month from all sources:

• Take-home pay from a job or freelance work
• Allowance
• Summer work (include one month’s worth of the total)

Note: One-time cash gifts, such as money you get for your birthday or a tax refund, also are income. But since you can’t plan on this every month, don’t include them here. 

The next step is to add up your current expenses, using the records you have available. This list will undoubtedly be longer and more varied than your sources of income.

You can use the Monthly Budget Worksheet Download Monthly Budget Worksheet or the Budget Wizard Links to an external site. to help record your expenses and income.

 

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