Personal Budgeting -- The One Column Solution

By: John Stewart
Submitted: 2007-01-17 16:16:08
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Personal budgets are hard, right? They are complicated: you need to be a computer programmer to figure it out, right? Wrong. A personal budget can be as complicated or as simple as you want to make it, so make it simple by following the one column solution.

The one column personal budget solution is exactly what it sounds like: you have one column on your budget for every time you get paid, and that’s it.

Let’s look at an example. Let’s say you get paid $500 every week. Your rent of $600 is due on the first of every month. Your car insurance of $200 is due on the 20th of every month. Your $100 hydro bill is due on the 10th, and you buy food and put gas in your car every week. How can you budget to make sure you pay all of your bills on time?

Simple. Use one column for every paycheck. By doing this, you are not trying to budget for an entire month, you are only budgeting for one week. Your one column budget will show $500 at the top of the column for your paycheck, and then it will have your expenses listed by the week.

Your one column personal budget will show your rent as $150 per week (one quarter of your $600 monthly rent), car insurance as $50 per week (one quarter of $200 per month), hydro as $25 per week (one quarter of $100 per month), and food and gas for your car at whatever you spend each week.

The big advantage of the one column budget solution is that you are setting aside money every week, so you are never short. At the start of the month you start setting aside money for the month; that way when rent is due, the money is already in the bank. No stress, no problems. How easy is that?

Remember, if you don’t follow the one column solution to make a simple budget, you could find your spending out of control. That can lead to bankruptcy, so remember, a proper personal budget is the best bankruptcy alternative.

If you stick to the one column solution, your budget, and your life, will be much easier and less stressful, so don’t wait, get started today!

John Stewart writes about personal finance topics, including budgeting, debt, and bankruptcy alternatives. More information can be found on how to make a personal budget and bankruptcy alternatives at http://www.bankruptcy-alternatives-information.com

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