A Monthly Budget and Spending Analysis Calculator

Regardless of the current level of debt you have, the key to avoiding taking on more debt is in controlling your spending. The best way to accomplish this is to get a handle on your current spending habits, categorizing the money you spend on all products and services on a monthly basis. Gaining this control is your first step toward prosperity and the creation of wealth.

The problem is in defining our needs v. our wants. To be a successful saver, you must learn to properly categorize your necessities (food, shelter, etc.) and discretionary spending (travel, entertainment, etc.) The challenge for many consumers is that this discretionary spending is often fueled by emotions. For these people, feeling stress, bored, or unhappy leads to buying things they don’t need and can’t afford. While there are professional services available to assist you in breaking these habits, you might try the following steps to see if you can get it under control yourself.

A personal budget is simply a financial plan as to how you will spend your income toward your various expenses and the category that each falls into. A complete plan includes debt repayments (with a goal toward elimination) and targets a level of savings to accomplish for each period- for example, 10% of your income from that period.

There are many reasons why you should take the time to create a budget plan, the main one being that it can help keep you from overspending, and may enable you to look toward getting out of debt and start investing.

The Stock Research Pro spending analysis and monthly budget calculator will assist you in putting your spending into their various categories and help to you to separate the necessities from your spending on luxury items (the total and percentages for these are highlighted in red so you can easily see your immediate opportunities for cutting expenses).

________________________________________________________________

The above information is educational and should not be interpreted as financial advice. For advice that is specific to your circumstances, you should consult a financial or tax advisor.

« Developing a Personal Savings Plan
(includes calculator) | Home | The Basics of Money Market Investing »