A budget can be as simple as a piece of paper with headings for income and expenses written on it, or it can be a more detailed worksheet that you download from one of many Web sites. The most important thing is to find a budget that works for you.

Budgeting for Teens: Create a Handwritten Budget

Most personal budgets are calculated monthly. Assuming you are going to create a monthly budget, remember to calculate your income and expenses accordingly. For example, you may pay your car insurance yearly, so be sure to take the total yearly cost of the insurance and divide it by twelve (the number of months in a year) to come up with a monthly cost. It’s also important to remember that there are fifty-two weeks in a year, which is different from taking twelve months times four weeks (which only totals forty-eight weeks). You will need to do this with any of your income and expenses that are not automatically figured monthly. Also keep in mind vacation weeks when you may not get paid. For example, if you know you will have two weeks of unpaid vacation during the year, use fifty weeks (instead of fifty-two) when making your income calculations.

  1. Start with any standard 8 ½” x 11” piece of paper and a pencil.
  2. Write Income at the top of the page.
  3. Under Income, list any sources of income that you receive regularly (paycheck, allowance, holiday money). If you are paid every other week, be sure to take that into consideration when you figure your monthly income.
  4. Add the total income and make a Total Monthly Income line.
  5. Skip a few lines and write Expenses.
  6. Under Expenses, list each of your monthly expenses on a separate line; these would include anything that you pay monthly (gas for car, car insurance, cell phone, etc.).
  7. Add the total expenses and make a Total Monthly Expenses line.
  8. Subtract the total monthly expenses from the total monthly income; the difference is the amount that you should be putting in the bank each month.

Sample Monthly Budget

Income
Wages/Paycheck
$320
Allowance$40
Holiday/Birthday Money$20
 
Total Monthly Income$380
 
Expenses
Gas for Car$50
Clothes$50
Car insurance$50
Entertainment*$100
Gifts$20
Cell Phone$20
Donations to Charity$10
School expenses (clubs, sports, band)$10
  
Total Monthly Expenses$310
  
*Includes money for eating out, movies, technology updates. 

Monthly Income $380    Monthly Expenses $310    Difference= $70

Based on this budget, you would be able to save $840 a year. It’s important to keep in mind that your income and expenses may not be exactly the same each month—some months your income may be a little higher (extra babysitting jobs, more allowance for extra chores), and other months your expenses may be higher (prom dress, concert ticket). But by creating a budget, you will have a pretty good idea of how much you should be saving each month. Plus, when you see how much money you can put in the bank in a year, you will have an incentive to keep saving!

Find a Detailed Budget on the Internet

There are hundreds of Web sites that offer sample budgets for teens and adults: you could spend hours looking through them all. Since there’s just not that much difference among the various budgets, look at two or three and pick one that fits your lifestyle the best.

For one example of a simple online teen budget, go to http://www.MoneyAndStuff.info. Click on “Budget Worksheets” (under Activities & Stuff). Next, click on “Budget Worksheet for Teens” (under How to Create a Budget). You will find an example of a filled budget already filled out and a blank one to use as a template for your own budget.


Source:
MoneyAndStuff.info