Income and Expenses
How many times have you told yourself, "I've got to make some kind of plan to better control my monthly finances."? Simply stated, that's what a budget is — nothing more than a game plan for controlling your finances. The key is knowing where your money is going each month.

Example of monthly spending:

Here's a simple example of one person's monthly expenses. It reflects what many would consider a reasonable breakdown of how monthly income could be spent:

How do these percentages compare to your own monthly expenses? If you live in an area where housing costs or other expenses are especially high, your spending percentages could differ.

As this example shows, in order to set up a budget, you'll need to calculate your expenses by category in the same fashion.

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