Budgeting to take control of your finances.
If you’re used to getting by on a low income, you’re probably already keeping a close eye on your expenses. Making and following a budget can be a lot of work, and while it won’t increase the amount of money coming in, it can be a powerful step towards taking control of your finances.
Keep reading to learn some simple elements of budgeting.
Budgets are individual
With a budget, you can see where your money is going. As you go through the process, keep in mind that everyone values things differently and that what one person might see as an unnecessary expense, another might see as completely non-negotiable.
So try not to spend too much time comparing yourself to others. Your individual budget is your own.
What can you do with a budget?
- record your income
- add up your expenses
- set your spending limit
- set a savings goal
- pay your responsibilities first
- adjust your budget as you go
Online tools for setting up a budget
There’s no need to reinvent the wheel with budgeting. The Moneysmart website has a useful budgeting tool that can save your information, be updated at any time, and be downloaded as a spreadsheet.
The tool lists common expenses and also allows you to add custom entries. You can set individual incomes or expenses on a weekly, fortnightly, monthly, quarterly or yearly basis.
See Moneysmart’s 2-minute read on how to do a budget for easy steps to plan and manage how you spend your money.
This information was last updated on 5 June 2023.
The links and resources in this article have been compiled and reviewed by the Brotherhood of St. Laurence. We aren’t responsible for what you’ll find at the links, though we do hope you find the information useful. See our disclaimer if you’d like to know more.
Want to save this article as a PDF? See how to here.
📌 See more: