When you develop your budget you will need all of the information you gathered in Budgeting: Parts One to Three.
Next, you will put it all together into a format that will be known as your Budget.
There are many resources that can be accessed from libraries, banks, bookstores, the Internet, etc. which can assist you in developing a budget.
All you really need is some paper and a pencil to record:
- what your income is for the month
- what the expenses are that need to be paid that month
- what your debt payments are and when they are due
For sample Budgeting Forms visit:
- www.cba.ca or www.canlearn.ca
- access the Tell Us About Yourself Assessment form from A Step Beyond.ca.
If you followed the steps in Budgeting: Parts One to Three you will have gathered all of the information you need to complete your budget.
- Basically, you need to fill in the income and expense blanks.
- Once your budget is completed, you should total the Income and Expense columns.
- Many people will fill out the budgeting form but do not total up the expenses. It seems they are afraid to find out how much they owe. If you do not know how much you owe? How can you pay your expenses and keep up to date with your debts?
- Even if you're not able to meet all of your expenses there are still things that can be done to put you in control of your finances and A Step Beyond.ca can assist in developing a plan.
Knowledge is power when it comes to dealing with finances and A Step Beyond.ca can help you to increase your level of knowledge when dealing with your finances.
Once your Budget is complete you can determine what income if any is left after your expenses and debt commitments have been met.
This is how you determine:
- whether or not you have the ability to pay your debts,
- if you are insolvent or bankrupt
- if you require assistance: from your creditors, or to deal with your creditors
- what amounts are available for: spending, planning, saving, goal setting, retirement, etc.
If you require assistance to complete any of the stages of Budgeting please contact A Step Beyond.ca
