Budgeting

budgeting Budgeting A great way to meet your financial goals. Inside . . . side What is a budget? Making a budget Getting help brought to you by the retirement commission What is a budget? A budget is a plan for the money you expect to receive and how you expect to spend it. Everyone can benefit from having a budget. It’s one of your best tools for getting sorted. To make a budget you add up how much money is coming into your household (your income), then you add up how much money is going out (your spending), and work out the difference. Your budget will tell you whether you have money left over (a surplus) or not enough money to cover your spending (a deficit). The aim of a budget is to try and make a surplus – so you have some spare money to save for your goals or to pay off debt. What is a deficit? A deficit is when you don’t have enough money to cover your spending. If you spend more than you earn, you have a deficit. What is a surplus? A surplus is when you have money left over. If you spend less than you earn, you have a surplus. Have you set your goals? Setting your goals will help you to think about what you want in life and how you want to spend your money. Order the Set your goals booklet from sorted.org.nz/ordering or call 0800 SORT MONEY (0800 767 866). Things you need 1 A list of your spending each week. Keeping receipts from your shopping is one way of doing this. ■ Your bank statements and bills for at least the last three months. These will show how much you are spending each month on rent, mortgage payments, hire purchase, credit cards, telephone and power bills and insurance. ■ A list of costs that you pay from time to time such as car licensing, medical expenses, gifts and holidays. 2 Get all the information Give yourself a couple of weeks to get all the information you need. Put it in one place so that it’s all together when you’re ready to make your budget. Making a budget that works For a budget to work, the information needs to be accurate and complete. Don’t forget to include the little things like ice-creams for the kids or bus fares and money for parking. A budget also needs to be up-to-date so it’s a good idea to check it regularly. 3 ■ 4 A list of any money you get such as your pay, benefits or other government support, NZ Super or interest you earn on your savings. ■ A list of any regular savings you make. 5 ■ 1 Get your budget Making a budget 1. Your weekly income When you have all the information you need, it’s time to work out your budget. Set some time aside for this. You can use this budget sheet or the Budget calculator on sorted.org.nz. Be realistic about the amounts you include. You need to put down your real costs for your budget to work. Divide the amounts by two if you receive fortnightly payments, or by four if you receive monthly payments. Weekly take-home pay (after all deductions) Benefits or other government support NZ Super payments Working for Families income Child Support Board payments Interest/dividend payments Other income $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ Add the above for the total 2 1 Total $ 2. Your weekly spending Food & housekeeping (include extra milk, bread etc.) Rent/board Child Support payments Fares/petrol Personal cash (e.g. cigarettes, entertainment) Children’s school books, school trips etc. Children’s pocket money Donations (church, charity) Work and Income repayments Fines Other weekly spending $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ Add the above for the total 2 Total $ 3 3. Your monthly spending Mortgage payments Power/gas Telephone (including mobile, internet) Insurances (house, contents, car, medical, life) Credit cards: 1 Credit cards: 2 Credit contracts (hire purchase): 1 Credit contracts (hire purchase): 2 Loans (e.g. car loans, personal loans) Equipment rental (e.g. washing machine, TV) Bank fees Other monthly spending (if you pay fortnightly, work out the monthly amount by multiplying the amount you pay by 26 and then dividing it by 12.) $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ Step 1. Add the above for the total Step 2. Multiply by 12 months (x12) Step 3. Divide by 52 (weeks/year) 4 Total $ $ 3 $ 4. Your yearly spending Rates (including water) Car licensing and WOF Car maintenance and repairs Fees and subscriptions – schools, kindergarten, clubs Medical (including doctors, dentist, prescriptions) Dog registration and vet Home maintenance Clothing/shoes/uniforms Gifts Holidays Regular savings Other yearly spending $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ Step 1. Add the above for the total Step 2. Divide by 52 (weeks/year) Total 4 $ $ 5 5. Your budget calculation Put the total from Box 1 here 5 Total weekly income $ Add Boxes 2,3 & 4 and put their combined total here 6 Total weekly $ spending Subtract Box 6 from Box 5. Write the answer here: 7 Sum total $ Tick the box that’s right for you: ■ ■ The amount in Box 5 is bigger than Box 6. The amount in Box 7 is my surplus. The amount in Box 5 is smaller than Box 6. The amount in Box 7 is my deficit. 6 Get your budget Now you’ve made your budget, find out what to do next if you have money left over (a surplus) or not enough to cover your spending (a deficit). Find out what to do next 7 Done your budget? If you have a surplus Here are some things you could do: ■ If you have a deficit Here are some things you could do: ■ Check that the amounts in your budget give you enough money to pay for your family’s expenses. Are there any areas where a little more money would make your budget work better? Use your surplus to pay off your debt more quickly. Save your surplus towards one of your goals. Your goal could be having an emergency fund, buying a house or saving for a holiday. Meet a budget adviser and work out a savings plan. Make a date to check your budget in six months’ time. If you have any savings use some of it to pay off debt. Check your budget. Is there any spending that could be reduced? Call 0800 774 004 to make sure you are getting your Working for Families entitlements – you may qualify for Working for Families tax credits, the Accommodation Supplement or Childcare Assistance. Think about ways to earn more income. Meet a budget adviser. ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ 8 Getting help If you need help to make a budget, call Family Budgeting Services on 0508 BUDGET (0508 283 438). Their services are free and confidential. A trained budget adviser will answer your call. They will answer your questions over the phone or put you in contact with an adviser in your area. Family Budgeting Services has budget advisers throughout New Zealand who can show you how to make and operate a budget. They will help you to take control of your money. Try these online calculators Budgeting made easy Use the Budget calculator to make a plan for your money. Just enter your income and your spending, and it will do the calculations for you. See where your money goes Now you’ve done a budget, use the Money tracker/Cashflow calculator to see where your money really goes. You can track your spending day-today or month-to-month. 9 Get your budget Kiwi story A budget that works Jimmy and Suzie live with their 7-year-old son in Hastings. When they bought their first house they decided to work out a budget together. Making their budget took time but once it was done, Jimmy and Suzie could see where their money was going. They found there were some areas where they could spend a bit less and put that money towards paying off debt. While the budget was hard to stick to at first, Jimmy and Suzie have paid off their hire purchase debts and saved $5000 towards an emergency fund that they can use if they need it. Jimmy’s top tip is to be realistic when working out a budget. At the start Jimmy and Suzie just wanted to pay off their debts and they didn’t leave enough money for their weekly expenses. So they changed their budget to have a bit more money to spend each week – making that change meant the rest of their budget could work after all. 10 Notes 11 Where to now? 1 Got the information you need to budget – spending, income, statements and bills? Made a budget? Worked out if you spend more or less than you earn? ■ ■ ■ 2 3 Next step: e.g. call 0508 BUDGET on (date). Sorted booklets Order from sorted.org.nz/ordering or call 0800 SORT MONEY (0800 767 866) 12 Sorted 021 September 2009