Make a Monthly Budget
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What you will learn
- 1List your income for one month
- 2Plan your spending, saving and giving for the month
- 3Sort spending into fixed and flexible
- 4Subtract to find what is left in your budget
- 5Track your money during the month and adjust next month
Mini Lesson
You have already planned a budget for a family outing and for an event. Those were one-time plans. A monthly budget is a plan for your own money that you use again and again. You write down what comes in, decide where it goes, and then check how it went. After a few months, you get better at it, and your money goes where you really want it to go.
🏠 The Life Skills Way (step by step)
- LIST YOUR INCOME: write all the money you expect this month, like a $5 allowance each week and $10 from small jobs.
- SAVE AND GIVE FIRST: decide how much goes to saving and to giving before you plan any spending.
- LIST FIXED SPENDING: write the costs that are the same every month, like a $5 art club fee.
- PLAN FLEXIBLE SPENDING: decide how much you can spend on things that change, like snacks, games or gifts.
- SUBTRACT: take saving, giving and spending away from your income. If the answer is below zero, cut some flexible spending.
- CHECK WITH YOUR GROWN-UP: show your plan to your grown-up before the month begins.
📒 During and After the Month
- TRACK IT: write down every time you spend money, the same day.
- CHECK HALFWAY: in the middle of the month, see how much flexible money you have left.
- COMPARE: at the end of the month, put your real spending next to your plan.
- ADJUST: change next month’s plan, like moving $2 from snacks to saving.
Keep your money in a safe place your grown-up knows about, like a jar at home or a family bank account. Never share money, card numbers or passwords with anyone except your grown-up. If you are not sure about a spend, ask your grown-up first.
Words to know
income
The money that comes in, like an allowance or money from small jobs.
e.g. My income this month is $30.
budget
A plan for how you will save, give and spend your money.
e.g. My budget shows $10 for saving.
fixed spending
Costs that are the same amount every month.
e.g. My art club fee is fixed spending.
flexible spending
Costs that can change from month to month, and that you can choose to cut.
e.g. Snacks are flexible spending.
track
To write down what you spend as you go.
e.g. I track every spend in my money notebook.
adjust
To change a plan a little so it works better.
e.g. I adjusted my budget to save $2 more.
💡 Handy Tip: keep a small money notebook with two columns, "plan" and "real". Write each spend the same day. At the end of the month, one look at the two columns shows exactly where your plan worked and where it did not.
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