Thoughts, Ideas, & Creative Journaling Inspiration

Plan With Me - New Year, New Budget

1/7/2018

Use these quick and easy journal spreads to plan your budget and get a handle on spending for the new year.

MoxieDori Budget Finance Bullet Journal Stencil

Supplies :

MoxieDori Budget Finance Stencil
Grid or dot grid journal, planner, or Traveler's Notebook insert
Pen(s), marker(s), or pencil(s) of your choice

Prepare Ahead :

Estimate/round your pay amounts and when they'll occur
Look at past credit card and/or bank statements to gather your list of reoccurring monthly bills and estimate/round amounts for each
Round up to the nearest $5. No decimals. So if your pay is $639.29 every two weeks, just say $640. If your water bill is $84 monthly, just say $85. The goal is make it easy to use SO YOU USE IT. You don't have to strain your brain.

Income Section

Income Tracking Section of Bullet Journal Spread

Beginning with the top left portion of your spread, use the tabbed end of your stencil to create a month row. Then use the long edge of the stencil to create a header row and one row for each pay day that will occur within each month. Continue the rows across the spread to the right, to reflect five months. Choose a total shape from the stencil and add one to the bottom of each amount column. Record pay dates and estimated or actual pay amounts, then total the amounts column for each month.

Expenses Section

Expenses Tracking Section of Bullet Journal Spread

Use the longest edge of your stencil to create a header row, one row for each reoccurring monthly bill, and one or two blank rows for any additional reoccurring expenses that may arise over the next few months. Continue the rows across the spread to the right, to reflect five months. Add the total shape from the stencil to the bottom of each amount column. Record estimated or actual bill amounts, then total the amounts column for each month.

Budget Section

Budgeting Section of Bullet Journal Spread

Add a different total shape from the stencil under each total from the Expenses section. Subtract the Expense total from the Income total and record the balance amount for each month.

Saving Towards A Goal

Under the balance total, choose an amount you'd like to set aside in savings, and record that amount inside a stenciled piggy. This could be a random amount or an amount you want to save towards a specific goal that you identify by creating a Savings Planner Spread on a subsequent page in your journal. Here's an example of a Savings Planner Spread we created using the same MoxieDori Budget Finance Stencil. Simply divide a large financial goal by the number of months within which you wish to reach it.

Tracking What You Spend

Subtract the amount you want to save from the balance total on your Budget spread, and record the remaining amount in a stenciled dollar to represent how much money remains available for general spending each month. You can use this figure as your limit at the top of a Monthly Spending Tracker you can also create using the the MoxieDori Budget Finance Stencil!