Build your monthly budget

Use your own numbers, or realistic made-up ones if you prefer. Work on paper, in a spreadsheet or in our free Budget Template.

Your steps

9 steps

1. Write down your monthly take-home pay. If it changes, use a lower-than-average month.
2. List your fixed expenses, such as rent, phone and insurance.
3. Check the last one to three months of bank or card statements to estimate variable expenses like groceries and transportation.
4. Add occasional expenses by dividing each yearly cost by 12.
5. Label each expense as a need or a want, and add up each group.
6. Compare your totals with 50/30/20 and write down one change you could make.
7. Choose one savings goal and a monthly amount to put toward it.
8. Check that income minus spending minus saving equals $0.
9. Put a 15-minute budget check-in on your calendar for the end of the month.