For all the algebra, history and geography, there’s a life skill that you might not have learned at school: planning a budget.
Without a household budget, you’re simply spending blind, unaware of where exactly your money’s going. It might work for you for a while, but if you hit a financial hurdle, or you want to make the money you have go further, planning a budget is a must.
If you have a financial goal – such as getting out of debt, saving for a mortgage deposit or putting money away for your retirement – it will help you work towards this too.
Here's our six-step plan that you can follow to create a comprehensive budget. And when you're done, head over to our page on balancing and managing your budget for tips on how to stick to it.
Find out more: 50 ways to save money - our comprehensive money-saving guide
1. Get organised and take your time
Set aside at least an hour to create your budget. Rushing it could lead to mistakes.
It's a good idea to gather all the paperwork you’ll need before getting started, so get hold of:
- a few months' worth of bank statements;
- your recent credit card bills;
- copies of your household bills;
- details of your savings and pension contributions;
- information on any other incomes you may have.
In the example below, our budgeter is paid a monthly salary. If your main income arrives more frequently, you may prefer to make a weekly or fortnightly budget.
2. Add up your income
Here’s our example of the ‘income’ section of a budget. We’ve included multiple forms of income just to show how that would work, but you may well just need to include your monthly salary here (which would be much easier).
| Previous three months | ||||
| REGULAR INCOME | Jan | Feb | Mar | Average |
| Salary | £2,294 | £2,294 | £2,294 | £2,294 |
| Rental income | £450 | £450 | £450 | £450 |
| Savings interest | £55 | £58 | £61 | £58 |
| Freelance income | £150 | £50 | £200 | £133 |
| TOTAL | £2,949 | £2,852 | £3,005 | £2,935 |
Jot down your regular earnings from employment (after tax, student loan payments, pension contributions etc. have been deducted), then add other sources of income, from savings, investments, self-employment, rent payments etc.
Calculate what you earned in the last three months and note down the average, so you have a rough idea of what you might expect to earn in the coming months.
Now might also be a good time to ensure you’re paying the correct amount of tax. For help with this, see our guides on tax codes and tax for the self-employed.
3. Calculate your essential spending
Next, jot down how much of your money monthly income goes towards essential spending.
Categorise these payments, so you have a good idea of where your cash is going. Your categories could include mortgage payments, utility bills, groceries, childcare, travel etc.
| Previous three months | ||||
| REGULAR INCOME | Jan | Feb | Mar | Average |
| Salary | £2,294 | £2,294 | £2,294 | £2,294 |
| Rental income | £450 | £450 | £450 | £450 |
| Savings interest | £55 | £58 | £61 | £58 |
| Freelance income | £150 | £50 | £200 | £133 |
| TOTAL | £2,949 | £2,852 | £3,005 | £2,935 |
| ESSENTIAL SPENDING | Jan | Feb | Mar | Average |
| Mortgage payments | £780 | £780 | £780 | £780 |
| Utility bills | £299 | £278 | £303 | £293 |
| Groceries | £500 | £410 | £510 | £473 |
| Car | £200 | £180 | £170 | £183 |
| Gym | £85 | £85 | £85 | £85 |
| Childcare | £450 | £410 | £450 | £437 |
| MONEY SPENT: | £2,314 | £2,143 | £2,298 | £2,252 |
| MONEY LEFT (DISPOSABLE INCOME): | £635 | £709 | £707 | £683 |
Gather your bank statements, household bills and credit card bills for this task. The more accurate your figures are, the more useful your budget will be.
Calculate your total expenditure for each of the last three months – and subtract this from your monthly earnings. This will show you how much is typically left for ‘non-essential’ spending each month which will form your disposable income.
4. Review your disposable income
Next, it's time to add a layer which analyses how you spend your disposable income.
An accurate review of how you’ve previously spent your disposable income will prevent you from under or over-budgeting in certain areas.
Note how you’ve spent your disposable income in the previous three months. If you put money into savings, note down how much money you store away each month too.
| Previous three months | ||||
| REGULAR INCOME | Jan | Feb | Mar | Average |
| Salary | £2,294 | £2,294 | £2,294 | £2,294 |
| Rental income | £450 | £450 | £450 | £450 |
| Savings interest | £55 | £58 | £61 | £58 |
| Freelance income | £150 | £50 | £200 | £133 |
| TOTAL | £2,949 | £2,852 | £3,005 | £2,935 |
| ESSENTIAL SPENDING | Jan | Feb | Mar | Average |
| Mortgage payments | £780 | £780 | £780 | £780 |
| Utility Bills | £299 | £278 | £303 | £293 |
| Groceries | £500 | £410 | £510 | £473 |
| Car | £200 | £180 | £170 | £183 |
| Gym | £85 | £85 | £85 | £85 |
| Childcare | £450 | £410 | £450 | £437 |
| MONEY SPENT: | £2,314 | £2,143 | £2,298 | £2,252 |
| MONEY LEFT (DISPOSABLE INCOME): | £635 | £709 | £707 | £683 |
| DISPOSABLE INCOME SPENDING | Jan | Feb | Mar | Average |
| TV subscription | £60 | £55 | £80 | £65 |
| Alcohol | £65 | £90 | £54 | £70 |
| Football | £90 | £110 | £45 | £82 |
| Going out/leisure | £195 | £150 | £210 | £185 |
| Savings | £200 | £200 | £200 | £200 |
| Other | £124 | £95 | £99 | £106 |
| DISPOSABLE INCOME SPENT: | £734 | £700 | £688 | £707 |
| MONTHLY BALANCE: | -£99 | +£9 | +£19 | -£24 |
At this point, you may discover you’re regularly spending more than you earn. If this is the case, making a budget is a crucial task that shouldn’t be put off.
Our guides on how to manage your budget successfully and tips on paying off your debts could prove useful in this scenario.
5. Draw up a budget you can stick to
With an accurate picture of your average spending now at your fingertips, it should be easy to draw up a monthly budget you can stick to.
Use your average earnings and compulsory spending figures for the last three months to estimate how much disposable income you’ll have in future months, adding in any one-off payments you know are on the way.
From there, you can set a reasonable budget for your disposable income, along with achievable savings targets.
| Previous three months | Next month | ||||||
| REGULAR INCOME | Jan | Feb | Mar | Average | Adjustments | Apr | |
| Salary | £2,294 | £2,294 | £2,294 | £2,294 | +£0 | £2,294 | |
| Rental income | £450 | £450 | £450 | £450 | +£0 | £450 | |
| Savings interest | £55 | £58 | £61 | £58 | +£0 | £58 | |
| Freelance income | £150 | £50 | £200 | £133 | +£0 | £133 | |
| TOTAL | £2,949 | £2,852 | £3,005 | £2,935 | £2,935 | ||
| ESSENTIAL SPENDING | Jan | Feb | Mar | Average | Apr | ||
| Mortgage payments | £780 | £780 | £780 | £780 | +£0 | £780 | |
| Utility Bills | £299 | £278 | £303 | £293 | +£0 | £293 | |
| Groceries | £500 | £410 | £510 | £473 | +£0 | £473 | |
| Car | £200 | £180 | £170 | £183 | +£55 | £238 | |
| Gym | £85 | £85 | £85 | £85 | +£0 | £85 | |
| Childcare | £450 | £410 | £450 | £437 | +£0 | £437 | |
| MONEY SPENT: | £2,314 | £2,143 | £2,298 | £2,252 | £2,307 | ||
| MONEY LEFT FOR DISPOSABLE INCOME: | £635 | £709 | £707 | £683 | £628 | ||
| DISPOSABLE INCOME SPENDING | Jan | Feb | Mar | Average | Apr | ||
| TV subscription | £60 | £55 | £80 | £65 | -£15 | £50 | |
| Alcohol | £65 | £90 | £54 | £70 | -£15 | £55 | |
| Football | £90 | £110 | £45 | £82 | -£15 | £67 | |
| Going out/leisure | £195 | £150 | £210 | £185 | -£70 | £115 | |
| Savings | £200 | £200 | £200 | £200 | +£50 | £250 | |
| Other | £124 | £95 | £99 | £106 | -£15 | £91 | |
| DISPOSABLE INCOME SPENT: | £734 | £700 | £688 | £707 | £627 | ||
| MONTHLY BALANCE: | -£99 | +£9 | +£19 | -£24 | +£1 | ||
In the example above, our budgeter has planned to put an extra £50 into savings in April, simply by budgeting £15 less a month than average in each other category of their disposable spending.
They've also budgeted an extra £55 for their car’s MOT by removing an extra £55 (£70 total) from their ‘going out/leisure’ fund for that month.
Find out more: managing your budget successfully
6. Keep an eye on your spending and roll with the punches
Once you’ve drawn up your budget, it’s important to keep an eye on how faithfully you’re sticking to it and adjust your limits accordingly.
We’d recommend revisiting your budget each month. This way, if you’re continuously overspending, you’ll notice quickly and will be able to readjust before it affects your financial goals too drastically.
A lot of people find it simpler to manage their budget using spreadsheets or personal finance software. Check our personal finance software reviews to see what these programs could do for you.
