Budgeting: Creating a Spending Plan
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The first step in securing a healthy financial future is to create a simple spending plan.
This can be done by monitoring your total monthly income and assessing how much must be used on necessary expenses. Once you allocate a dollar figure to be used for life’s necessities, you’ll begin understanding how much you can afford to put toward elective spending.
The following resources and tools contain valuable information and can help you begin budgeting and creating your own spending plan:
General Resources
Ohio Saves Campaign – America Saves
A simple and high-level five step process for creating a household budget.
The Federal Trade Commission details why a budget is important and how to get started.
An explanation on how to understand lifestyle costs and better manage and prioritize income and expenses.
While presenting four brief steps to begin budgeting, this resource offers tips and guidance on how to stick to a spending plan.
This guide provides three steps for managing spending and includes interactive activities to support those efforts.
Tools and Worksheets
OSU Extension provides users with guidance and step-by-step activities to better understand and improve spending and saving habits.
These calculators help users establish a budget and determine lifestyle costs in different areas across Ohio.
This interactive tool helps you to understand where money goes and how to implement an ongoing spending plan.