Personal budget planning is an important part of keeping a handle on your finances. Because there is so much turmoil in today’s economy, maintaining a healthy personal budget is more vital than ever. Crafting a personal budget begins with determining how money comes in, and how money goes out, but there is a lot more detail that has to go into the personal budget planning process if you want to get the most out of it.

When you consider your income, for example, you should have both a monthly budget amount and a monthly actual amount so you can make sure that you are earning the income that you are expecting. Your income should include not only standard wages and bonuses, but also income from interest, income from investments and income from miscellaneous sources. Budget for all “money in” scenarios, including tax refunds for example.

Because taxes are an important part of your finances, you should also track your income taxes and other taxes in your personal budget planning process. Track your federal income taxes, state income taxes, local income taxes, medicare taxes and social security taxes by tracking both a budgeted amount and an actual amount each month. These numbers fluctuate, so make sure to track them.

Next, when it comes to tracking your expenses for personal budget planning, there are a lot of categories that you need to consider. You need to consider your mortgage payment or rent, homeowner’s or renter’s insurance, property taxes, home repairs, HOA dues, maintenance costs and home improvements, for example. Utilities that need to be considered include electricity, water and sewer, natural gas or oil, cellphone and land line telephone. Food costs should not only include grocery bills, but also snacks, lunches, eating out, and whatever you spend at the vending machine. There are also family obligations to budget for that may normally be forgotten, such s child support, daycare, baby sitting and alimony payments. If you have to contribute to your health insurance, don’t forget about monthly health, vision and dental premiums. You also need to consider un-reimbursed medical expenses like co-pays.

There are other expenses to include in your budget planning, including transportation costs like car payments, gasoline, auto maintenance and repair fees, oil, auto insurance and other methods of transportation like bus and taxi costs. If you are debt like loans, student loans or credit cards, or you have debt payments, then you need to include these as well. If you intend on saving a specific amount of money every month, it would be wise to treat it like a bill, making it a mandatory expense every month rather than something that you remember to do at the end of the month when you’re low on cash. Don’t forget occasional expenses in your budget, like entertainment and recreation costs, subscriptions, vacations, pets, clothing and other investments. If you leave something out of your budget during the personal budget planning process you may end up with no money to cover it at the end of the month.

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Budget, Goal, Money, Personal Finance, frugal tips, money management techniques, saving

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alimony payments, baby sitting, family obligations, federal income taxes, food costs, grocery bills, hoa dues, home improvements, home repairs, insurance property, interest income, line telephone, monthly budget, mortgage payment, personal budget, s child, state income taxes, tax refunds, vending machine, water and sewer