Planning Your New Year Budget

working a budget

Every new year I set up my budget for the upcoming year.

I have been doing this now for 37 years.

The first thing I do is calculate what I expect my income will be.

Every year is different. Life events are one reason this fluctuates. One year I retired and so was then looking at retirement income instead of a full salary. A couple of times I lost a husband due to death and had to figure out how much I lost in income by not having their share of household monies. One year I started my own business and another year Diane Quintana and I started up a business together. Last year Social Security started giving me a small check each month.

I look at all of this information and make my best estimate for expected monthly income.

The next step is to look at how much I spent in each of my categories last year.

Each week I enter into my paper ledger what I have spent that week. At the end of every month, I put the total for the month into a spreadsheet. At the end of the year, I total up each category and divide that total by 12 to get my monthly average.

I also scan the months to see if there was one month that was way off and note if this was just a once in a lifetime event or might repeat this coming year.

Working with this information, I put down what I expect my monthly spending estimate will be in each category.

I then total those estimates to make sure that they do not exceed my expected income.

I look over my goals for the year. This year I hope to travel more and do more fun activities. That means that I need to increase my spending in the entertainment category. That also means that I need to find a few categories that I can trim.

All of this is a challenge, but I am a creative person, and I am looking forward to this new year.

By having a budget plan in place, I am comfortable and not stressed about my money. I have done this for 37 years. I’m confident that it will work out this year.

If you need some help setting up a budget, jumpstarting a project or some guidance with time management, reach out and we can schedule a consultation.

Phone: 404-299-5111 – call and leave a message or text

jonda@timespaceorg.com 

Jonda S. Beattie, Professional Organizer owner of Time Space Organization, and co-owner of Release, Repurpose, Reorganize. She is based in the Metro-Atlanta area. As presenter, award-winning author, as well as a retired special education teacher she uses her listening skills, problem solving skills, knowledge of different learning techniques, ADHD specialty, and paper management skills to help clients.