Budgeting 102

The first stage to responsible budgeting is setting your own parameters or limits. Sit down with whoever contributes income to the household. Ask yourselves what you feel is reasonable to spend on different items or categories. Some categories are easy – these are relatively fixed costs. Rent, car payments, insurance(s) are easy to predict as they tend to be a set amount due on a specific date. Write these expenses down first. Even utilities can be viewed as fixed costs as they tend not to fluctuate too much from month to month.This will leave a pool of money for lifestyle satisfaction. That is the next stage to good budget practices.