{"id":284,"date":"2023-05-01T12:24:29","date_gmt":"2023-05-01T02:24:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/studiokettle.com.au\/wip\/living-costs\/?page_id=284"},"modified":"2023-06-06T14:15:18","modified_gmt":"2023-06-06T04:15:18","slug":"budgeting","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/studiokettle.com.au\/wip\/living-costs\/budgeting\/","title":{"rendered":"Keeping track with a budget\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Budgeting to take control of your finances.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"LC_jump\">\n    <p class=\"LC_actions\">\n        <a class=\"LC_btn LC_fav\"><\/a><a class=\"LC_btn LC_read\"><\/a>\n    <\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If you\u2019re used to getting by on a low income, you\u2019re probably already keeping a close eye on your expenses. Making and following a budget can be a lot of work, and while it won&#8217;t increase the amount of money coming in, it can be a powerful step towards taking control of your finances.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Keep reading to learn some simple elements of budgeting.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"940\" height=\"940\" src=\"https:\/\/studiokettle.com.au\/wip\/living-costs\/wp-content\/uploads\/Everyday_Expenses_v003.png\" alt=\"Woman pushing the circles in an oversized newtons cradle. Each ball in the cradle has an icon of a coffee cup, medicine pill, a utility lightning bolt, a bus and a house. \" class=\"wp-image-32\" srcset=\"https:\/\/studiokettle.com.au\/wip\/living-costs\/wp-content\/uploads\/Everyday_Expenses_v003.png 940w, https:\/\/studiokettle.com.au\/wip\/living-costs\/wp-content\/uploads\/Everyday_Expenses_v003-300x300.png 300w, https:\/\/studiokettle.com.au\/wip\/living-costs\/wp-content\/uploads\/Everyday_Expenses_v003-150x150.png 150w, https:\/\/studiokettle.com.au\/wip\/living-costs\/wp-content\/uploads\/Everyday_Expenses_v003-768x768.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 940px) 100vw, 940px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Budgets are individual<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">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.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">So try not to spend too much time comparing yourself to others. Your individual budget is your own.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>What can you do with a budget?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>record your income&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>add up your expenses&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>set your spending limit&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>set a savings goal&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>pay your responsibilities first&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>adjust your budget as you go<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Online tools for setting up a budget<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">There\u2019s no need to reinvent the wheel with budgeting. The Moneysmart website has a useful <a href=\"https:\/\/moneysmart.gov.au\/budgeting\/budget-planner\">budgeting tool<\/a> that can save your information, be updated at any time, and be downloaded as a spreadsheet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">See Moneysmart\u2019s 2-minute read on <a href=\"https:\/\/moneysmart.gov.au\/budgeting\/how-to-do-a-budget\">how to do a budget<\/a> for easy steps to plan and manage how you spend your money.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"LC_asterisks\">\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em><em>This information was last updated on 5 June 2023<\/em>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>The links and resources in this article have been compiled and reviewed by the Brotherhood of St. Laurence. We aren\u2019t responsible for what you\u2019ll find at the links, though we do hope you find the information useful. See our <a href=\"http:\/\/link_disclosures\">disclaimer<\/a> if you\u2019d like to know more.\u00a0\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"LC_asterisks\">\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Want to save this article as a PDF? <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/studiokettle.com.au\/wip\/living-costs\/how-to-save-a-pdf-of-a-web-page\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">See how to here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>&#x1f4cc; See more:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/studiokettle.com.au\/wip\/living-costs\/everyday-expenses\/\"><strong>Getting help with everyday expenses<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/studiokettle.com.au\/wip\/living-costs\/bills\/\"><strong>Paying bills and negotiating<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Budgeting to take control of your finances.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-284","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry","category-article"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Keeping track with a budget\u00a0 - LIVING COSTS<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Budgeting to take control of your finances.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Keeping track with a budget\u00a0 - LIVING COSTS\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Budgeting to take control of your finances.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/studiokettle.com.au\/wip\/living-costs\/budgeting\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"LIVING COSTS\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-06-06T04:15:18+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/studiokettle.com.au\/wip\/living-costs\/wp-content\/uploads\/LC_1200x630_FBeveryday-costs.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"630\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"Keeping track with a budget\u00a0 - LIVING COSTS\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"Budgeting to take control of your finances.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:image\" content=\"https:\/\/studiokettle.com.au\/wip\/living-costs\/wp-content\/uploads\/LC_1024x512_TWeveryday-costs.png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/studiokettle.com.au\\\/wip\\\/living-costs\\\/budgeting\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/studiokettle.com.au\\\/wip\\\/living-costs\\\/budgeting\\\/\",\"name\":\"Keeping track with a budget\u00a0 - LIVING COSTS\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/studiokettle.com.au\\\/wip\\\/living-costs\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2023-05-01T02:24:29+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-06-06T04:15:18+00:00\",\"description\":\"Budgeting to take control of your finances.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/studiokettle.com.au\\\/wip\\\/living-costs\\\/budgeting\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/studiokettle.com.au\\\/wip\\\/living-costs\\\/budgeting\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/studiokettle.com.au\\\/wip\\\/living-costs\\\/budgeting\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/studiokettle.com.au\\\/wip\\\/living-costs\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Keeping track with a budget\u00a0\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/studiokettle.com.au\\\/wip\\\/living-costs\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/studiokettle.com.au\\\/wip\\\/living-costs\\\/\",\"name\":\"LIVING COSTS\",\"description\":\"Support for life&#039;s ups &amp; 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