Budget Planning Aids

Budget is an interesting word. It comes from the Latin word budgerigar, which means budgie. Just kidding! Really, budget comes from the Latin bulga, which was a little travelling bag. It's a nice analogy.

Still, some people don't like the sound of the word: budget. Budget sounds like the spinach of financial planning. But as long as you know it's good for you, call it whatever you want.

Call it "watching my money" or "strategic spending" or "my envelope method." Does that sound more interesting?

There's budget software out there, but free resources (like those below) will probably do the trick.

Budget Worksheets

For the paper approach to strategic spending, print up this simple worksheet:

McGill University: Annual Student Budget Worksheet

Online Planners

CanLearn online budget planner

Canlearn's online budget planner is designed for students (like the McGill worksheet). However, it could be adapted for post-school budgets if you prefer planning online.

http://tools.canlearn.ca/cslgs-scpse/cln-cln/40/fp-pf/fp-pf.obp.do?langcanlearn.ca

My Plan

This New Zealand-government-financed planning system can be updated and linked to emails that remind you of your goals. For more information about this and other tools from Sorted, see "Sorted" Planning Tools in the Learning Centre.

http://www.sorted.org.nz/my-plan