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[quote=Anonymous]I made an excel spreadsheet.  Populated it with all my estimated inflows (paychecks, child support, tenant rent, tax refunds, FSA reimbursement) and all my outflows (mortgage, insurance, utilities, extended day, summer camp, college savings, etc.)  The inflows are positive numbers, the outflows are negative numbers.

Once I had all estimated inflows and outflows listed, I looked to see what balance remained.  That was the disposable income I could expect to have for the year.  I divided it into monthly amounts and assume that I can spend up to $X each month.  Then I sorted it by date, so I could see when the balance was going to be lower or higher.  Then if you put in the $600 for a new dryer in April, you see if you're going to run out of money at some point.  Then you can adjust your spending as necessary.

As budgeted payments become actual payments, I update the budgeted entries with real dates and amounts and add in unbudgeted transactions.  I check it against the bank balance about once a week.

I keep a $5,000 cushion in the account so that if the balance is negative at some point in my spreadsheet, it's not actually a negative balance at the bank.

I'm a financial analyst, so this is the easy way for me to budget and track expenses.[/quote]

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