by Kelly Szymanski

Created on: November 20, 2009   Last Updated: July 16, 2010

You've listened to all the experts tell you that you need to be on a budget. You've balked and stalled and come up with one excuse after another. But now you've made the decision: you're going to give living on a budget a try. So, where do you start?

You start with actually sitting down and creating a budget that you can live with. There is much to consider: income, fixed expenses, flexible expenses, taxes, emergencies. An easy way to work it all out is by using a budget planning worksheet.

You can create one yourself, which would work if you can remember to include everything that needs to be included to make your budget successful. If the thought of doing that overwhelms you, don't worry. There are many websites that offer free printable or down-loadable budget planning worksheets with the click of your mouse.

Womens-finance.com offers a variety of printable worksheets. Use the Monthly Creditor Tracking Worksheet to keep track of your debts, due dates and interest rates. The Holiday Expenses Budget Worksheet will help keep those holiday expenses under control. To keep track of all of your monthly expenses, give the Monthly Expenses Worksheet a go. It will help you keep track of and plan for everything from your housing to your vacation.

Betterbudgeting.com also offers printable budget planning worksheets. The Basic Budgeting Worksheet will help you figure your monthly income and expenses, showing you if you have a surplus or a shortage. Use the Dealing With Debt Worksheet to help you organize and manage your creditor's and debt to get them paid off as quickly as possible. The Monthly Spending Worksheet will help you to keep track of those extras, like your morning latte, as well as your non-fixed expenses, like groceries. To help you plan for those annual expenses, think taxes and summer vacation, try the Annual Budgeting Worksheet.

Foxway.com is another site that offers free printable worksheets. The Personal Budget Worksheet has you list all sources of income on one side and all your expenses on the other. The Weekly Individual Expense Record lets you record your daily spending for a week at a time. The Goals Chart helps you set and keep track of your savings goals. If you click on the Foxway Budget Tracker Spreadsheet link, you will get a free, down-loadable excel spreadsheet to where you can keep track of each months expenses with running totals.

Getrichslowly.org is an Excel spreadsheet, free to download. It is divided into five parts: pre-tax deductions (insurance), regular bills (housing), irregular bills (groceries), budget summary(tells you how well you've done), and non-budgeted expenses (car repairs).

Daveramsey.com offers budgeting forms, tools, advice and encouragement to help plan and track the progress of your spending and savings.

There are many ways to approach creating your budget. It's important to check out a few sites and find a budget planner worksheet that makes sense to you. No matter how easy or sensible it looks, it won't work unless you actually use it.

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