Thank you for your interest in How to Budget’s Free Budget Planner Tools.

Our system will give you More Money in 30 Days, to help you do this we use simple Excel spreadsheet tools;

1.  Spending Diary (an accountability task to ensure you know exactly what you are spending and where

2. Free Budget Planning Tool

3.  Budget Planning System (available with the E-book), which comprises 3 Excel worksheets; Current Budget, Apply System and New Budget.

Step 1: Spending Diary

If you don’t know what you spend in a month, use our spending diary first and then create your budget - if you genuinely feel you have a good handle on your spending you can go directly to the budget.

This is a simple tool but will need some commitment from you – knowing where all your money goes is the first step to being in control and it helps you address the issues honestly.

Save the spreadsheet and print it out and keep it somewhere very handy so you will remember to fill it in.  For at least a month, you need to keep dockets and card receipts, keep track of money going in and out of your wallet not forgetting all the bills and regular payments you make.  Enter your manual work into the spreadsheets and it will add the totals you need to go on to the next stage - budget planning.

Tip!  Organise Your Paperwork

To complete the budget you need to get out all your financial papers and put them in a place together, even a shoe box will help. I use a very simple system with a hook on the wall for unpaid bills and an in tray for paid bills which get transferred to an archive folder each quarter (or thereabouts).  The How to Budget e-book includes a section on ways to get on top of financial management.

Step 2: Free Budget Planning System (Download below after reading these instructions)

An excerpt of the How to Budget planning system is shown below it is extremely simple to follow and use as it is all on one page and you can either do it on paper or directly into the spreadsheet.  You can also add categories if you have other incomes or expenses.  Simply complete the subscription form above for this spreadsheet to be sent to you in an email.

Worksheet 1.  Current Budget (excerpt shown below)

How to Use:  Using your spending diary (or best estimates) plus financial papers, bills, dockets etc enter your amounts for income and expenses for a consistent chosen time period. (Monthly works best.)  

The formulas are already there and will calculate as you go.  Below is a picture of the spreadsheet, so you can see how clear and easy it is to follow.

How You Would Go Further with the Extended System (Available if you Buy the E book and System for $20

ADDITIONAL STEPS WITH E-BOOK AND SYSTEM

Step 3:  Apply our Bill Slashing System

Shown below is an extract from the second page of the worksheet entitled “Apply System”.  

This worksheet is linked to the last worksheet and shows how our system will unlock 100's of dollars in savings by applying “Cash is King” and the 6 C System (next chapters).

The current column will automatically transfer from your "Current Budget". As you identify savings the spreadsheet will calculate a new budget for you, plus your Cash is King* weekly "pocket money" amount will be shown on the bottom right.

* Cash is King is our #1 Budgeting Tip

The fastest and best way to spend less is to use the “Cash is King” discipline.  Once you’ve done your budget add up all the following discretionary expenditures; transport & petrol; lunch and takeaway food, alcohol, entertainment, coffee, cigarettes, magazines, lotto, gifts and interests (our system does this calculation for you).  From now on you are going to pay for all these things only with cash from your wallet, to a preset amount each week, which you can withdraw as “cash out” when you pay for groceries.  

You should be able to still have a reasonable amount that will allow you both to save and commit to not accessing bank accounts or credit cards for any of your discretionary items.  It might be hard on Friday night after a few drinks, but trust us, it is the absolute best way to put yourself back in touch with your money. On top of this set a single monthly budget for clothing, accessories, hair, cosmetics and do not exceed it.  

Step 4:  New Budget - Worksheet 3

The new budget worksheet will fill in automatically from your "revised" column on your worksheet. This is your revised budget to save and print out.  The monthly savings are the amount that becomes your “source” on your goal tracker, so you can set your goal and milestone amounts based on the total savings you can commit to by using our “6 C” system to slash spending.  Transfer the savings or debt repayments to your bonus goal tracker sheet.

Ensure you set up direct debits for savings or extra loan repayments or ask your employer about salary sacrifice superannuation (which has great tax advantages) if you don’t have a particular goal.

Plus our 90 Page E-book with 100’s of Ways to Save

Plus Bonus Tools!  6 C System, Visual Goal Tracker & Spending Diet

To get started on the full How to Budget System and Have More Money in 30 Days

for a one off payment of $20* go to "Buy E-book" 

* We offer a 100% money back guarantee that you will save at least this on your first day of budgeting