How to make a monthly budget in one evening, with an example
A monthly budget is not a forecast. It is a decision about where the money that is coming will go, made before it arrives.
In short
To make a monthly budget, take the income you are certain to receive, subtract fixed costs (rent, utilities, phone, loan payments) and the amount you will save, and split what is left between food, transport and everything else. For example: income 3 200, fixed costs 1 500, saving 320 — that leaves 1 380 to live on, about 320 a week. Check the budget every week, not at the end of the month.
A monthly budget takes one evening to make, and it only helps if you open it every week. So keep it simple: five steps, one page, not a single extra column.
Step 1. The income you are sure of
Only the money that will reach your account this month: take-home pay, a regular side job. Leave out bonuses and maybe-projects — if they arrive, they are a gift to the plan, not its foundation. If your income moves around, use the weakest of the last three months: budgeting with variable income.
Step 2. Fixed costs first
Everything that will be charged no matter what: rent or mortgage, utilities, phone, internet, loan payments, subscriptions you are not willing to cancel. It is the dullest part and the most important one — a mistake here breaks the whole month.
Step 3. Saving comes before spending
What goes to your emergency fund or a goal is subtracted straight away, like a bill. How much depends on your income, but never zero — even five percent. What percentage of income to save.
Step 4. The rest, by category
Whatever is left is money to live on. Split it into five to seven categories: groceries, transport, eating out, clothes, health, fun, small stuff. You do not need more — a budget with thirty lines does not get filled in.
An example for one person
3 200
Income
Take-home pay
1 500
Fixed costs
Rent 1 100, utilities, phone, transport pass
320
Saving
Ten percent, on payday
1 380
To live on
Groceries, eating out, clothes, everything else
Of that 1 380: groceries 600, eating out and delivery 250, clothes and home 200, health 100, fun and small stuff 230. If it does not add up, cut the flexible lines first, not the saving. The same arithmetic for a household: monthly family budget example.
Step 5. Split it into weeks
1 380 a month is about 320 a week: a month has 4.3 weeks on average, not four. A weekly number shows the overspend on day seven, not day thirty. How to run money week by week: weekly budget.
How it looks in the app
In Caudal fixed costs go in Recurring with their amount and charge day, saving is a contribution to a goal, and each spending category can have a monthly limit: the app shows how much is left and warns you as it runs low. If you set a monthly budget, the home screen gets a block showing what you have spent, what is left and whether you are on pace. At the end of the month, Insights compares the month with your usual one and names the differences in words — the raw material for next month's budget: monthly money review.
Common questions
- How do I make a monthly budget if I have never done one?
- Start with three numbers: the income you are sure to receive, your fixed costs and what you will save. The difference is what you live on; split it into five to seven categories and four weeks. The first month the numbers will be rough — that is fine, the second budget is built from what you actually spent.
- Which income should I use if it changes every month?
- The lowest monthly income of the last three months. Anything above it is allocated separately once it is in your account: to the emergency fund, debts or goals.
- What if my monthly budget does not balance?
- Cut the flexible categories first — eating out, shopping, entertainment, subscriptions. If that is not enough, the problem is in the big lines: housing, transport, loans. Reduce saving rather than dropping it to zero.
Try it on your own money
Caudal is an expense tracker in Spanish, English and Russian. Several currencies, goals, debts, a shared household budget. Recording an expense takes three seconds.
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