Have you been putting off getting a budget set up because you feel like it will take too much work?  This is totally for you!! No more excuses, this is THE fastest Basic Budget Set Up to get you going TODAY!

This budget set up is totally for you if you have been on the fence about budgeting and think, oh man, it’s just too much work!  Guess, what, you can seriously throw together a pretty accurate budget in 10 minutes. This can happen in 4 simple steps. Seriously!  It’s going to be that easy.

You don’t need any fancy forms for this, but if you would like some awesome budget forms FOR FREE, sign up below to get those right now!

4 steps to a basic budget set up:

1.  Print your last month of transactions.

This is probably the most work you need to do for your budget set up.  Printing them will be super fast. If you don’t have access to a printer, just write them all down (that will take longer than 10 minutes).  You just need to know where you spent money and how much you spent.

Make sure you print ALL of your transactions, not just your checking account.  If you have credit cards you are using, print those off too. Anywhere that you are spending money in a month needs to be accounted for.

2.  Grab some cute highlighters!  (Who doesn’t love to color??)

Look over your spending for the month and designate colors to different expenses:

Food = pink

Housing = blue

Utilities = yellow

Cars = orange

Debt = green

Expenses (child care, pets toiletries, cosmetics, etc.) – no color

Then start highlighting your expenses for the past month so they are color coded accordingly.

3.  Then very quickly add up the total for each category and write it down.

Keep each total with its specific category.  Once you have all of these things added up, you are going to transfer it to an actual budget.

Adding up your budget category totals will look something like this:

Adding up your category expenses will give you an idea how much you spend per month in each category.  This is just a rough approximation to get you started RIGHT NOW! You will be spending the next 3-6 months really perfecting your budget, getting acquainted with your spending habits and setting up your financial goals.

4.  Fill out your budget.

You can totally use a yellow pad for this, just make three columns.  The first column is for all expected “expenses”, then a column for “budgeted” (how much you plan to spend in this category) and a column for “spent” (how much you actually spent, you won’t be able to fill this in until you actually live through the next month).

At the top right corner, put in your total income for the month.  Then at the bottom of that paper add up total expenses minus total spent and it should equal zero.

The type of budget you are working off of is a Zero-Based Budget.  This means that every single dollar you have coming in for the month has a designated purpose.  So, at the end of the month, your total balance after you take income minus expenses should be zero.  If you have “extra” money at the end of the month, you still need to give it a purpose.  Whether that is saving, giving, paying off debt or setting aside for fun.  It doesn’t matter where it goes, as long as you are telling it what you want it to do.

Your paper should look something like this:

If you have never heard of a zero-based budget, you can read more about what it is and why it works here.

If you are wanting a fancier layout for your budget, you can sign up here to gain access to our FREE Monthly Budget Forms, as well as our Budget Categories Checklist.  Get them instantly when you sign up below!

Was this the fastest 10 minutes of your life?  Guess what? You totally just set up a budget!  Wasn’t that bad, was it?

If you haven’t done it yet, I don’t want any more excuses.  Get started right now! There is no excuse for not starting a budget.  Don’t be afraid of your finances and don’t settle for “good enough.” You deserve to have an awesome life where you aren’t desperate for payday and dodging phone calls from collectors.

Things can be different.  Start making a change with this 10 Minute Basic Budget Set Up.  You can do it! If you hit roadblocks, I am here to help.

Wondering if how much you spend every month is normal?  Take the FREE Money Spending Assessment to see where your money is going and if you are living below your means.  Plus you can get my best money saving tips!! Don’t miss out!

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