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Assignment 2: A Four-Step Budget

Creating a budget and sticking to it is a critical activity that we all need to do in order to be fiscally responsible. In this assignment, you will create your own monthly, four-step budget.

The four steps to create the budget are as follows:

1. List your monthly income. If you receive one-time payments periodically during the year, be sure to average those out and include them in your monthly income total.
2. List your monthly expenses. This can be the hard part because most of us do not look at past utility bills, credit card payments, house and car payments, etc. In this total, try to include a monthly estimate that incorporates averaged-out, once-per-year expenses (like purchasing Christmas presents).
3. Subtract your total expenses from your total income. This will be your monthly cash flow. From this, seriously consider setting aside some for savings.
4. Lastly, adjust your budget. The hardest part can be making sure that you include all income and expenses that you have.

You may use a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet to create your budget.

This is an ungraded assignment. However, it will help you to learn more about calculating interest, payments, and dealing with student loans. Apply APA standards to citation of sources. Use the following file naming convention: LastnameFirstInitial_M4_A2.xls.

By Wednesday, March 18, 2015, deliver your assignment to the M4: Assignment 2 Dropbox.