Spiritual Financial Planning
It's 10 pm. Do You Know Where Your Money Is?: Why Budgeting May Be the Most Important Thing You Ever Do.

Ok, so it may not be the most important thing you'll ever do (prayer is, you know, up there too), but it is one of the first steps in managing your money. So now, all in one place, just for you, the FUNDamentals Team has developed several budgeting tools for almost any kind of financial situation.

Have you ever looked in your wallet or purse and wondered where all your cash went? Or went to buy something and realized you don't have any money in your account? Or just wondered how you're going to pay for everything that you want, whether it's a new iPod or a contribution to the Chilean Temple Fund? Then budgeting is what you need.

Budgeting may seem like a tedious, even somewhat frightening process, but it's a crucial first step in managing your money. It may seem like you don't have that much to budget, but you'd probably be surprised at the difference between where you think your money is going and where your money is actually going.

There are a number of ways to do it, but many experts recommend you start by keeping tabs of where all your money goes for one month. That means keeping receipts or carrying a little notebook and keeping track of every single purchase. If you have some time, as an experiment, you may want to fill out one of these budgeting sheets just off the top of your head,  keep track of your purchases for one month, then fill it out again and see the difference.

As a tool, we've created three different kinds of budgeting sheets for three different stages of life. We created them in Excel and we did all the work for you. You just need to plug in your numbers.

• The 'Super Deluxe Budget' is designed primarily for people that have a good amount of both income and expenses, people that have likely begun their careers, maybe have kids, and maybe even legal expenses. You can download the *updated* Super Deluxe Monthly Budget.

• The 'Just Getting Started' Budget is designed for people who are just starting their careers and don't have too many expenses (and perhaps not too much income either). You can download the Just Getting Started Monthly Budget here.

• And the 'College Days Budget' is for people in college. You might have a couple jobs, maybe rely on financial aid and loans. This budget has a special place to enter financial aid income, then helps you budget it whether you receive it quarterly, by semester or by trimester. Download the College Days Budget here.

Do you have a budgeting plan or tool that works for you? Email us or comment below. We'd love to hear about it!

Comments

[brad bippus]

Wow! Those are amazing budget spreadsheets. i've looked at dozens of them over the years and these ones are fantastic. It has a great breakdown of spiritual contributions. I love the % of income box on the lower right hand side. Great idea!!! Keep up the good work. FUNDamentals is a great resource.

[FUNDamentals Team]

Thank you, Bev! We here at FUNDamentals HQ cannot believe we didn't include health care costs, which is why it's so important you told us what you need.

The Super Deluxe budget has been updated, with the other 2 budgets to be updated soon. Health care costs were also included in the overall expenses and in the 'Flexible Costs' section.

Let us know if we can add anything else that might be useful!

[Bev]

I tried the super deluxe monthly budget. A great idea and useful. I did not find an area for health, it might include things like co-pay for doctors or prescriptions, and vitamins or herbals. Thanks

[FUNDamentals Team]

Dayheem, You're right! We're so sorry about that. The spreadsheet has been fixed and the new version uploaded. Thank you for catching that and letting us know!
The FUNDamentals Team

[Dayheem]

Hey, great spreadsheets! I'm using the "Just Getting Started" one, and I think I've found a bug. Under "What's Up Financially", the "Total of What's Left Each Month" adds my total income to my total expenses. I wish! Shouldn't it subtract total expenses from total income? Thanks!

[FUNDamentals Team]

We're so glad you like it! If you don't mind us asking, which budget was most useful for you? (you can either post here or send us an email :)

[Cristina]

This is the greatest website ever!!! Thank you so much, for the first time we have stopped to even think about a budget.

[FUNDamentals Team]

We're so glad you found these useful!

One of the things we're working on are articles and tools to help cut down expenses wherever possible. Figuring out income/expenses is a great first step.

[Heather]

I filled out the Excel budget sheet twice--first I guessed at my income and expenses, and the second time I actually got out my checkbook and worked the figures. I was relieved to find out after getting a more accurate version that although my expenses are still slightly greater than my income at this point, they are much less so than I have been thinking. This is a big relief to me. Thank you for providing this worksheet.