Budgeting 101“Piece of the Puzzle”

By: Michelle Schumann – IT Student Mentor

Overview• Types of Budgets• Who needs one anyway?• Creating a Budget• Maintaining a Budget• Learning from your Budget

Types of Budgets• Work

– Department spending– Future forecasting– Sales– Cash Flow

• 90% of Small Businesses fail because of lack of cash flow

• Family/Home– Christmas or Holiday spending– Bills and/or Savings– 5 & 10 Year plans (College, Retirement, etc.)

• Church or Religious– Charitable contributions

Who needs one anyway?• Budgets are a necessary evil• Using Templates (i.e. Microsoft Excel) can

help• Don’t drive yourself nuts

– Be flexible if need be, move from one area to the next

• What do you NEED vs. what do you WANT• Cash leakage (ATM pitfalls)• Pay yourself first

– Savings of 3 months minimum

• Beware of the income creep– You make more money, you spend more money

Microsoft Excel

Microsoft Excel

Microsoft Excel

Microsoft Excel

Creating a budget• 3 Steps to Creating a Budget:

1. Identify how you are spending your money now.

2. Evaluate current spending, are they in line with future financial goals?

3. Track your spending and stay within your own personal guidelines.

Maintaining a budget• Read your Budget weekly if not daily

– Update Budget for visual aid – Motivation to stay on track

• Have an electronic AND a hardcopy to write on

• Save some money for unexpected expenses– Because we all have them!

• Identify areas to improve or areas to adjust if needed

Learning from your budget• What to keep for next budget?• What can be changed or adjusted next

time?• Did you stick to your budget? Why or why

not?• How can you improve upon it in the future?• Using a previous budget is easier than

starting from zero.

“The best predictor for future performance is past performance.” - Unknown

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