Newly Corporate

I’m sure know how to budget, I’m sure you have even budgeted for your job! However, have you done it for yourself? I’ll be honest, I have not. I keep planning to, but then you have to work late, friends want to go downtown for dinner, etc… However, I have finally began budgeting. I say “began budgeting” instead of just doing in that I think it is an a process more so than an event. A budget is a living breathing thing and is developed over time, refined, and requires research and diligence. Sure there are easy budgets you can do, but those are only so accurate, and so useful. Here are some useful sites and insights.

About.com is always a great source for information. This site has some great reasons on why you should have a budget.

“A budget is a guide that tells you whether you’re going in the direction you want to be headed in financially. You may have goals and dreams but if you don’t set up guidelines for reaching them and you don’t measure your progress, you may end up going so far in the wrong direction you can never make it back.”

Now that is why you should budget, but how should you budget. This site is great and has tons of information! Lesson one is simple and gets straight to the point of budgeting.

“The best lesson you can learn at this point is the power of compound interest, described below. Give yourself the gift of starting off right, and planning for your financial future from the beginning. Now is truly the best time to get your spending plan in place so you can make the most intelligent investment decisions with the money you allocate to savings.”

A couple insights from myself. The most important thing, don’t pay for budgeting software!! that’s crazy, there are so many excellent resources. Here are some…

Automated web site yodlee. This site is great. It can automatically link to most of your money related accounts that you already observe online, like bank, debt, loans, and credit cards. Once online there are resources to budget online, track expenses (which it does automatically through your debit and credit cards) and print reports.

However, if you pefer a simpler route as I do. Try excel. Most business people already know the program quite well and if you don’t here are some templates. These templates are great. Excel can be easily adapted and make an efficient and useful tool.

If you like the template idea, but you want to be able to access it online or share it with a wife or the like, try creating the spreadsheet on a google doc. Anyone you allow can go and edit the document at anytime.

Lastly, give it time. Keep track of expenses and income over a month or so. This will give you a good idea of the things you can buy, and then you will have a better idea on where you can shift money and how i.e. coffee instead of latte.

Good-luck budgeting, and let me know if there is any financial stuff you have questions on that we at Newly Corporate can expand and research on. I’ll keep you updated on how my fiance and I’s budget is going and anything I learn on the way!

There are some great budget templates over at .docstock as well.