BUDGETING & SAVING

THE NEXT LOGICAL STEP Let’s review: 1 st we learned how to manage our time What are some important characteristics of good time management? 2 nd we looked at how we would go about setting a career goal and pursuing a career through education How did you go about establishing a career goal? What steps did you outline to achieve it? 3 rd we looked at the steps necessary to get your dream job Have you begun a working copy of your resume? Did you try to create a template for your cover letter? Are you familiar with some commonly asked questions during interviews?

SHOW ME THE MONEY!! So now you are getting paid You will likely be paid weekly or bi-weekly (every two weeks) What do I do with my hard earned cash?? Spend it? On: A car Clothes Food Gadgets & gizmos Save it?

BUDGETING MADE EASY Steps to successfully budgeting your money Step 1: Estimate your income and expenses Consider all forms of income (paycheck, gifts, income from odd jobs, etc) Be sure to base your estimate on your bring home pay (or your pay after taxes are withdrawn) Fixed vs Flexible Expenses Fixed expenses stay the same month to month Examples = rent, car payments, and insurance Flexible Expenses vary by month Examples = food, gas, entertainment Better to overestimate expenses than underestimate

BUDGETING MADE EASY Step 2: Goal Setting Knowing that you need a specific amount of money in advance helps you budget Personal finance goals should be realistic, specific, measurable, and defined within a time frame If you do a good job on estimating income and expenses you will be able to see where to cut back on spending to achieve your overall goal

CREATING A MONTHLY BUDGET A budget is an itemized summary of probable expenditures and income for a given period You should renew and modify your budget on a regular basis