While spending plans or budgets don’t look the same they often include similar groupings or classifications. Here are some categories to consider as you set up your spending plan:
- Housing – includes rent or mortgage, insurance and property taxes and any condo or homeowner association fees, and money to repair or replace appliances and general home maintenance.
- Groceries – food, personal supplies, cleaning supplies,
- Utilities – electricity, gas, Internet service, cable service, sewer and water, cell phone
- Car – loan repayment, registration, insurance, inspection (if required in your state), general maintenance such as oil change and tire rotation, new tires, and
- Entertainment – dining out, movies, concerts, sporting events,
- Child Care – daycare, before and after school care
- Medical – co-pay, medication, insurance,
- Education – college class, professional development certification, enrichment classes for you or your family, student loan repayment
- Expected expenses – gift giving for holiday, graduation, wedding, birthday etc., vacations,
- Unexpected expenses – accident costs not covered by insurance for car and home. These expenses are often paid from an Emergency Fund account.
You can keep your categories in your budget general for example just use Utilities, or you can create subcategories under Utilities for Electricity, Cable Service, Sewer and Water, and your Cell Phone bill. The important thing when setting up your categories is to make it work for you. It may be better to have more detail so you can see where you are specifically spending your money. That way if you need to make adjustments you know specifically where those changes can be made.
A Journey to Personal Financial Success
At Morgan Franklin Fellowship (MFF), we support the concept of financial freedom – by teaching participants how to save by paying themselves first, invest for their future and grow their net worth.
Learning how money works and how to talk about money with others are the first steps towards recognizing an individual’s lifelong financial goals. Our online programs, podcasts, blogs, and book reviews and resources are designed to help you learn the concepts, rules and vocabulary of money, finance and investing.
Becoming an MFF Fellow
Our Standards of Financial Literacy – Learning about money series is engaging, full of interesting information, and easy to navigate. Adapted from the National Standards for Personal Financial Education developed by the Council for Economic Education (CEE), this robust curriculum features six short lessons on such important topics as earning income, understanding the value of saving and using credit. When completed, this program lays the foundation for becoming an MFF Fellow.
Becoming an MFF Fellow is the ticket to access additional MFF programs and opportunities for mentoring, networking, internships and real-world opportunities. Hear from the MFF Fellow themselves on how these opportunities encourage them to continue their journey to personal financial success.
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