Having a planned monthly budget is the only hack for financial management. This is where making a typical list of your monthly expenses and income comes to play.
In this article, we will teach you how to make a list of your monthly expenses. Before then you will learn what should and shouldn’t be included in your expenses and lots more.
And with a copy of our monthly expenses list samples prepared below, you can get a bird’s-eye view of how to prepare a list you can keep track of.
So, carefully read this if you want to stay on track to meet your financial goals. Meanwhile, it won’t be a bad idea to navigate through the table of contents below because it gives an overview of all we have wrapped in this article.
Table of contents
List of Monthly Expenses
Fixed Expenses
Fixed Expenses are expenses that don’t change at all. Although the amount might differ a bit, they are regularly paid for. Some fixed expenses include:
- Mortgage(s)
- Rent
- Property taxes
- Strata fee/condo fee
- House/tenant insurance
- Utility bills
- Lease/car loan payment
- Vehicle insurance
- Life/Disability/Extended health (or other) insurance
- Bank fees
- Debt payments for your debt repayment plan
Saving Expenses
Saving expenses are of two types: Irregular and Oriented Expenses. Irregular expenses include costs that come up throughout the year such as property taxes, House and vehicle Insurance, Clothing and shoes, Vet bills, gifts, and vehicle maintenance.
Goal-Oriented Saving on the other hand includes money you save for retirement, education, trip, or unforeseen circumstance.
Variable Expenses
The cost of these expenses, unlike fixed expenses varies. They are seen as the expenses that we can control. That’s whether we can make the expenses or not. Also, we can decide how much we want to expand. Some of these expenses include:
- Groceries
- Personal care items (drugstore)
- Fuel / public transportation costs
- Clothing & shoes
- Daycare
- Work lunches & snacks
- Eating out
- Entertainment
- Tobacco/alcohol
- Lottery
- Babysitting
- Sports & recreation, other hobbies
- Haircare / Salon services
- Magazines / Newspapers / books
- Children’s lessons
In a month, because of the limited resources available, it will be daunting to take care of all these expenses. So, on this note, it’s expedient you go for the basic needs and some of the wants that can help you enjoy your life to the fullest.
To help you determine your needs and wants, we have classified the expenses based on Needs and Wants.
Monthly Basic Needs
Now, let’s take a quick look at some of the Basic needs that you must spend on.
Food
Food is the most basic need no human can do without. As far as life is concerned, you must spend on feeding. The breakfast, Lunch you take at the office, school meals for your kids and so all are all important expenses.
Perhaps, you would need to estimate the food costs monthly. The best way to achieve this is by estimating what your food expenses will cost in a month.
Although it might be high, you can manage it by cutting down and limiting your food spending, Restricting how much you spend will help you spend less money and stick to your schedule.
Read Also: Money Management for Teens 101: How to Save Money as a Teenager
Housing
Your living costs are expected to be your single biggest budget item. This covers an annual mortgage or rental charge, depending on whether you buy or rent your house. It also covers any added charges that you have to spend to preserve and use your house.
For example, if you buy a house, you would have to pay property taxes, utility bills such as electric, natural gas, and water, Maintenance costs such as landscaping or housecleaning help, replacement light bulbs, etc. Some of these costs vary every month.
Childcare
When you have children or pets, you may not be able to take care of them all the time especially, if you are working.
You will have to arrange for someone else to take care of them so that you can go to work or to school. If your kid attends a daily daycare, you can include the monthly expense of attending school for him or her.
If you employ an occasional babysitter so that you can have dinner or meet friends, then you’ll want to estimate your monthly rate.
Healthcare Insurance
Healthcare costs can range from person to person, but the premium will usually only adjust once a year so that you can spend monthly.
When you have health care from your workplace, your employer can pay a part of your premium. You just want to use the part you’re spending in the budget, which you’re responsible for.
Debts
The monthly debt-related cost is not the debt balance itself but the payment of the debt balance. These may be fees such as credit cards or personal bank loans.
Depending on how you categorize your expenses, you can include vehicle or house payments here, so make sure you do not double them if you include them as travel or housing expenses.
Entertainment
Entertainment costs are linked to something you do to entertain yourself. This may be your money on activities, movie nights, travel, or athletic events.
It’s convenient to ignore entertainment as a monthly item of expense. But if you don’t apply this discretionary spending to the budget, you might quickly start spending too much here.
Savings
Savings can be a daily part of every schedule, so including a monthly savings “expenditure” is an intelligent way to ensure you don’t forget to put aside some funds. It isn’t meant to be an afterthought.
Transportation
The cost of transport covers everything you pay for travel. This covers an annual auto allowance, whether you lease or get an auto loan.
It also requires protection on your car. If you’re using public transit to get to work or get about town, this will also be included here.
Having understood your needs and wants, Let’s now give you a bird’s-eye view of creating a Monthly Expenses List.
How to create a list of Monthly Expenses
To create a list of typical monthly expenses, you must start by getting a list of all your source of income. You can list them either as gross or net income.
Include your pay stubs, credit card bills, and any other information that will help you make the best and most accurate estimate of your expected income and spending.
After you’ve made a list of your sources of income, list out all your monthly expenses, including your needs and wants.
Once you are done with that, get your discretionary income before you do, you need to subtract your total expenses from your total income.
Now with your discretionary income, you can spend it on any opportunity that comes your way. You can even invest in it. But if you don’t have discretionary income, you should cut your expenses or increase your income.
This is because not having discretionary income means your expenses are more than your income, which is terrible.
On second thought, you can apply a Zero-Sum Budget while organizing the list of your monthly expenses. This means that you decide on what to spend before your income comes in.
Doing this can help you minimize the possibility of wasting hundreds of dollars and planning on how to achieve your financial goals with your discretionary income.
Check out: 10 Proven Ways To Handle Unexpected Expenses
Why Do I Need To Make A Monthly Expenses Budget?
Here are just a few of the reasons that creating a household budget is a wise decision, regardless of your financial circumstances:
- It serves as an easy and effective way of managing your limited resource.
- A monthly budget can help you monitor your spending.
- Having a list of monthly budgets plays a major role in your achieve short- and long-term goals actualization.
- Also, it keeps you ready for unforeseen circumstances like accidents or death.
- The process of budgeting instills individuals with the discipline and motivation to manage their finances more efficiently and responsibly.
Copy of Monthly Expenses List Samples
Click below to download a copy of the monthly expenses list sample.
Bottom Line
Monthly household expenses are a part of life. However, if you manage them right, you can be sure you’ve got enough money to cover them all and have the cash to reach your financial goals.
So, with the Monthly expenses list sample above, you can take the time to write out your budget and monthly expenses now.
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