I usually do my budget 3-4 months at a time. I am thinking about doing the whole year. So I can see what's coming up and not forget anything. Anyone plan the whole year? Is it better to keep it 3-4 months a time?
2014 Budgeting?
November 22nd, 2013 at 07:32 pm
November 22nd, 2013 at 07:47 pm 1385149629
I plan to figure expenses for the whole year, but my income fluctuates quite a bit.
November 22nd, 2013 at 08:13 pm 1385151211
November 22nd, 2013 at 08:45 pm 1385153125
it's been very helpful to give us something to work towards like keep utilities within 4% of last year; it identifies that some years utilities gouge [electric/water/gas. I've been less successful with auto operations and maintenance. I often work out of my home office and at certain times of the year work out of the country which makes mileage so erratic.
November 22nd, 2013 at 09:26 pm 1385155580
November 23rd, 2013 at 03:23 pm 1385220219
November 24th, 2013 at 01:51 am 1385257914
November 24th, 2013 at 07:00 pm 1385319619
November 25th, 2013 at 12:32 am 1385339558
I always did "escrow" or I guess sinking funds where I put aside a little each month for annual expenses. It was tough to add the amounts into the escrow line and delete those items as they came up. In looking for ways to simplify, I realized I can afford to pay annual expenses when they come up; I'll just have more to put toward debt/savings on months when I don't have a big one-time expense, and less to put toward it in months that I do.
I made a 13-sheet Excel file; each sheet is a month's expected budget, and the 13th sheet shows total expenditures on each category for the year so I can make sure my budget is close to the 50/30/20 ratio that many experts recommend. I'll paste each month's budget into my "future checkbook" Excel file as they come up, so I can track in more detail and make sure everything balances.