Breadwinner #1 Name:                                        Net take home pay:  ___________
Breadwinner #2 Name:                                        Net take home pay:  ___________
Other monthly income source:                               Net take home pay:  ___________
                                                                                               Total:

Fixed Monthly Bills
 

	Monthly Payment $		Monthly Payment $
Tithes/Giving		Equity loan
Rent/House payment		Credit cards total
Home insurance., taxes		Car loan
Utilities		College loan
Other utility		Car insurance
Water		Life insurance
Health insurance		School lunch
Sewer		School costs
Trash		Doctor/medical bills
Phone-basic		Prescriptions
Cell Phone		Gasoline
Cable TV		Daycare
Barber/beauty

These costs can’t be reduced much. Use averages as needed.                          Total Fixed monthly bills: $ __________

Yearly Bills To Save For
 

Car registration		Sports fees
Personal Property Tax		Medical, dental
Car repairs		Real estate tax
Appliance repairs/replace		Pet expenses
Homeowners insurance		Vacation
Home repairs		Christmas gifts, expenses
Tax preparation		Mandatory travel

                                                                                                        Total Yearly Bills to Save For: $ ____________

You MUST set aside money each month for these!                                           Total Bills to save for:  $________/ year

Divide  'Total Bills To Save For' by 12, for amount to budget each month                                              = ________/ mo.
(Have your bank automatically draft this amount into a separate savings account monthly )

 SUMMARY:                                                                              Your Total Net Take Home Pay            =  ________/mo.
                                                                                             Subtract:  Total Fixed Monthly Bills        =  ________/mo.
                                                                     Subtract:  Yearly Bills to budget each month                    = ________/mo.
                                                                        This is the monthly amount left for you to live on!          =  ________/mo.

Flexible Monthly Bills
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Now decide how much to spend on the rest of your categories.  Maybe you can only eat beans for dinner.  If you can't survive on what's left from above, then you will need to refinance loans to reduce interest rates and payments, or sell an asset, or renegotiate doctor or other bill payments, or reduce your lifestyle, or increase your income. You may be buying things you want, but don't need. Don't ignore "Savings" & "Giving."
 

Groceries		Savings/invest		Fast food, eat out
Giving to poor		Work lunches		Home furnishings
Entertainment		Gifts, birthdays		Clothes
Department store		Phone long distance		Other
Other		Other		Other

"Live simply, that others may simply live." - Ghandi

                                 Total Flexible Bills: $ ____________    (must equal above "amount left to live on")
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        How to use this form:  1.  Fill in all the numbers for each category for Fixed bills, Yearly bills and Flexible bills with what you are spending NOW.  2.  Subtract all these expenses from your monthly income.  3.  Day of reckoning:  Are you actually spending more than you earn?  This form will reveal it, and show you items you can reduce.  4.  Now print a new set of forms, and fill in the NEW numbers for what you decide to spend each month in each category.  Those Yearly Bills are the budget killers - you forget to set money aside for them.  5.  This is now your Master Budget.  6.  Each month start with blank budget sheets, and fill in your spending during the month, to keep you on track and compare it to your Master Budget.
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Cookie Jar Budget
        It can be hard to know where you stand during the month, and how much you have left to spend in each category.  An easy and (fun) alternative is to put the budgeted amount for each category into its own cash Cookie Jar, or similar container, in some safe place in your home.  At the start of each month, put cash equal to the amount you budgeted for, in cookie jars with labels on the outside for each category you need help controlling. When you want to go out to eat, for example, all you do is look in the cookie jar marked ‘Eat Out’ to see how much cash you have left to spend.  If it ain’t in there, you can’t go!  And no cheating by robbing a different Cookie Jar.  You may want to spend less of a Jar one month, to have more for the next month.                                                 .