Budgeting Tools
Helping you plan you future.
An important part of managing your money is knowing where your money goes.
Setting a budget will help you understand how much you need to meet
obligation and how much you have left for discretionary spending.
We have provided you with some useful tools to help you get started. We
give you a brief explanation how to use them so follow
the steps below and you will be on the way to controlling your future.
If you have any
questions, please contact a Citizens State Bank Associate.
STEP 1:
The first step is to understand where your money is typically
spent. The Budget Calculator uses some simple guidelines to help
you project where your money should by basic categories.
Directions: Simply click on the image above and enter your annual net income (after tax deductions). Then press 'Calculate'. The calculator will automatically allocate your money into the various categories. If you want a copy press the 'Print' button and you can use this for future reference to compare to your own personal budget.
STEP 2:
To develop a budget you must determine where and how much you will be
spending in various categories. We have available two types of worksheets
to help you gather this information.
If you have Microsoft Excel®, we have a spreadsheet that you can
use to enter your information. You can enter your estimated expenditures
in the budget column for each of the 12 months of the year. You
can also edit the categories if you need a more accurate description.
At the end of every month record your actual expenses in each of the
categories. The spread sheet will calculate the difference between
the budgeted and actual amounts. You may have noticed there are
monthly tabs for each month of the year at the bottom of the spreadsheet. We
have provided a 13th tab named 'Year-to-date totals' that automatically
updates with the amounts entered each month throughout the year.
If you do not have Microsoft Excel® we have provided an alternative method of delivering a budget for you. You can download and print out monthly budget worksheets. All information will be entered on paper and totals must be calculated manually. The file requires Adobe Acrobat Reader®. If you do not have Acrobat®, here is the link for a free download. This will take a few minutes to complete.
Once you have completed the steps described above you are on your way to achieve your financial goals.
STEP 3:
We have provided you with a holiday planning worksheet. It
is designed to help you plan for various expenses when the holiday season
is approaching. The worksheet is designed to be printed and filled
out by hand. The file requires Adobe
Acrobat Reader®. If you do not have Acrobat®, here is the link
for a free download. This will take a few minutes to complete.
Track your holiday-related expenses, and you will be getting ahead for the New Year instead of in debt.