What is budget?

A budget typically consists of four parts and its intent to provide the owner with information indicative as to whether they're making sufficient income to pay all of their bills or id there will be a shortage. Before we go any further, look for a cash flow set of forms on the Internet and they should include the following. First, are your fixed expenses such as rent, mortgages, real estate taxes, insurances such as homeowners and automobile policies, utilities such as gas and electric, garbage, oil and gas and other expenses that basically come up every single month. Next, create a set of expenses that we referred to as variable. Variable expenses include vacations, going out to dinner, food to a certain extent, recreation, hobbies, automobile expenses etc. When complete, this you should give you a picture of your current expenses. Next, put together a list of your sources of income and if you're a salaried employee begin with the gross number before deductions. Then, take out the deductions like Medicare and Social Security taxes, federal and state withholding to come up with a net income number. Finally, put together an estimate of what you think your federal and state income taxes will be to compare them to the numbers put forth just about. In an ideal situation your budget will indicate that you have positive cash flow and extra money for savings and investment. If the net result is negative and your spending more than you make, the budget will help identify areas where you may be able to cutback, especially in discretionary spending. I sincerely hope this helps and good luck