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BT Budget Worksheet

BT BUDGET WORKSHEET

A personal budget is not difficult to do and will help you determine how much you can invest. Here are three options for putting together a budget:

  1. Download the BT Budget Worksheet

    If you have access to the Microsoft Excel spreadsheet tool on your PC, you can download our BT Budget Worksheet. This will allow you to save your worksheet to your computer and amend it over time. The worksheet contains instructions for you to follow.

  2. Order the BT Budget Worksheet

    If you do not have the Microsoft Excel spreadsheet tool on your PC, you can email us and order a printed copy of the Worksheet.

  3. Manual Budget

    Or you can create your own by following a few simple steps.

    Your income

    On a large sheet of paper, make columns for each month of the year. Leave room for a total yearly figure at the end.

    Down the side of the page, note down all of the sources of income that you receive, broken down by each month of the year. Include your after tax salary or wage, interest and dividends, plus any allowances or bonuses. Include your spouse or partner's income.

    Add all your sources of income to calculate your total income for each month, and for the year.

    Your fixed expenses

    Then, also by month, record all of your fixed expenses - that is, expenses whose size you have no control over. Include items such as:

    • your home expenses (eg.rent, mortgage, rates, gas, water, phone),
    • car expenses (insurance, registration, running costs)
    • children (school fees, trips, clothes, books, child care)
    • insurance
    • transport
    • food.

    Again add these to get your total fixed expenses for each month, and for the year.

    Your variable expenses

    Do the same exercise for your variable expenses - that is, expenses over which you have some control. Include items such as:

    • household (furniture, appliances, maintenance, computer equipment, cleaning, pets)
    • personal (clothes, dry cleaning, shoes, hair and beauty care, education)
    • recreation (sports, eating out, concerts, movies, videos, pay TV, books and magazines, music, toys, hobbies)
    • health (chemist, dentist, doctor, optical, physio / chiropractor, prescriptions)
    • gifts (birthday, Christmas)
    • donations
    • alcohol and cigarettes

    Putting it together

    Work out the following:

    your total annual expenses = total annual fixed + total annual variable expenses
    result (amount available) = total annual income - total annual expenses
    If this result is a negative number, you are spending more money than you earn, and you have nothing left over to invest.

    Can I find some extra?

    Whether this is the case or not, most people are fairly shocked when they tally up their variable expenses, and find that by going back over these expenses there are areas where they can cut down without having a dramatic effect on their lifestyle.

    The idea is to shave a little from a few different areas of your variable expenses.

    This exercise may make the difference between having a negative number in your result, or a positive one.

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