Financial Budget Worksheet - Finding Ways To Balance Your Budget

Earlier we stated that a good budget would mean income would be equal to expenses.

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Having a small surplus is no guarantee by any means.

You might need this to cover and unexpected rise in oil and gas prices or a larger grocery bill due to a party you are hosting at home.

This almost brings the concept home of a sliding scale, flexibility and discretionary buffer categories in budgets to absorb this give-and-take roller-coaster ride that is family budgeting.

The good news is whether you are in the red so to speak or just scraping by, managing to save nothing or maybe a little, or even a lot, this process will highlight areas where your attention is needed right away.

It gives direction and purpose and assists families to formulate their spending plans, goals, re-visit their needs, dreams and goals.


Balancing the budget is no easy task.

Here are a few steps that we can suggest to make your life a little easier:

•   Find out how much you need to cut from your expenses.
•   Decide you can make cuts in your expenses and be detailed.
•   Re-balance your income and expenses after you've made these cuts.

A word to the wise: Do not make cuts in your budget that you cannot live with in real life.

It is extremely important to remain realistic and keep your real-time expenses and living realities in the forefront of your mind when you make these decisions.

If you’re getting out of a situation where you are in debt and short of cash, you have to try to curb spending any way you can. Cutting those expenses are crucial, not only because you are over budget.

We mean that there might be other reasons, like adding a budget-line to your overall planning for your family vacation.

Realistically, we cannot add and address new needs and goals before we have fulfilled our duty and responsibilities.

Cutting a little here and there will mostly do the trick – cancel that newspaper subscription for the papers that just land in the recycle box or garbage anyway.

Do you need all the specialty channels and packages on your Cable TV options? Can you live with giving some up?

There is always the specter of rising prices and interest rates, inflation and more to cope with as well, so building preparedness for that into your budget is also a priority.

Whatever we can do to cut our costs and expenditure will benefit our pocketbooks and family budgets immensely!

Cutting back on things you need the least is a good starting point if you are at a total loss as to what and how to give something up, add a new line into your budget or plan for the future or inevitabilities.

You are well on your way in the family budgeting process. You are doing it, every step of the way.

Consolidate and re-visit your budget often – it is a dynamic process and ‘living’ document or tools so to speak to help you keep your fingers on the pulse of your financial situation.

Another useful strategy is to set up a bill-paying plan and process that will protect your interest.

When, how and how much you get paid will all influence your course of action. Creative and innovative allocation of your paycheck is the key.

If you get paid once a month, the amounts in your budget will have to be paid monthly as is.

If you get paid twice a month, divide each budget item by two.

Continue to the next step of your free Family Budget Tips Guide : More About Financial Budget Worksheets.