For those who have never made a budget before a monthly budget planner can be a good way to get your feet wet. Organizing your finances can be an exasperating experience if you've never done it before, but it an important step if you want to win back your financial freedom. Knowing where you money goes and what it does is probably the most important thing you need to control if you want to succeed with money.
Before deciding on which type of budget planner to use it is best to start with a written budget using nothing more then a pencil and paper. This helps you get used to the idea of actually making a personal budget and gives you and idea as to where you stand financially. Writing down all your income and expenses is the first step to getting organized.
Once you are ready to move to something a little more sophisticated you can start using pre-printed budget sheets. These sheets have categories for both income and expenses which can be helpful in organizing your finances. All you have to do as you sort through your bills and check book register is plug your financial information onto the correct line.
These pre-printed spreadsheets can be printed off of internet sites that offer free budget sheets or you can find them at just about any office supply store. The only problem with these sheets is you won't always be able to match your finances to the right category which means you may have to write them in by hand.
If you are good with computer spreadsheet software then you may consider creating your own custom budget using something like Microsoft's Excel. There is an amazing amount of flexibility in using this type of software to build a monthly budget. You can customize it to do just about anything, from tracking monthly income and expenses to tracking retirement accounts, investments, and mortgage amortization rates.
If you aren't of the computer geek mentality don't despair because there are budgeting software programs that already have everything you need right out of the box. The two best well known are Microsoft Money and Quicken by Intuit. These powerful programs can handle just about any financial task you can throw at them. They will even allow you to download your financial information directly from your bank and financial institutions you do business with. From budgeting to financial planning these programs do it all.
As you can see there are quite a few options when it comes choosing a monthly budget planner. No matter which option you choose building a budget is the first step to taking back control of your financial well being.
