Property News Australia.com.au

Do you never seem to have enough money?

By managing your expenses so that you spend less than you earn, you will create spare cash to invest, meet unexpected expenses or save for something special. Spending less than you earn is easier said than done but FIDO’s Budget Planner can help you.

Finding out about your expenses and income
To manage your expenses, you first have to know what they are. FIDO’s budget planner uses a simple spreadsheet to sort your income and expenses, and calculate your weekly, fortnightly or monthly surplus or deficit. (If you don’t want to use the spreadsheet you can download a blank version of the planner in PDF format and write in your answers.)

Once you know what you’re spending your money on, you can plan to get your expenses under control. Stick to your plan, and you will soon find you have control of your money.

FIDO’s Budget Planner will help you work out what your regular income and expenses are. It’s much more thorough than planners you may have had to fill out for a loan, so it will help you draw up a really accurate picture of how you are managing your money.
What you will need
Set aside time to gather your information. You’ll probably need your payslip or income tax return, records of any other regular income, and as many of your bills, shopping dockets, accounts, credit card and bank statements as you can find for the past year.

Decide whether you want your plan to be worked out on a weekly, fortnightly, monthly or yearly basis. FIDO suggests you select your pay period so you can use your payslip for your income details.

Tips for more accurate results

Remember to use your after tax income.
Leave out any irregular income that you would not usually receive, for example overtime that is not regular or bonuses for unusually good performance.
Calculate all income and expenses consistently for the period you have chosen eg per week, per fortnight or per month. If you need help with this, the Budget Planner includes a converter to turn annual and quarterly payments into weekly, fortnightly and monthly amounts.
Check your payslip for any deductions (except tax) already made, for example superannuation, health insurance, company car. For the most accurate picture, add these amounts back on to your income and then include them in your expenses.
If you receive any income that has not been taxed, then deduct your estimate of tax due before entering that amount as part of your income. Dividends from company shares may include ‘imputation credits’, or tax already paid at the company tax rate as set out on your dividend statement. When you estimate tax due on dividends remember to deduct any imputation credits. Imputation credits reduce your tax bill.
Help given on screen
When you open the planner, you’ll find some things to help you use it. You’ll find:
1.  A converter to turn a yearly or quarterly amount into a weekly, fortnightly or monthly amount.
2.  A loan calculator to show you how much money you need to repay a loan within any number of weeks you choose.
3.  Pop ups with a more detailed explanation of various items. Get this by holding your mouse pointer over the red triangle.

Hints for first time spreadsheet users
FIDO’s Budget Planner is an Excel spreadsheet. You’ll find it easy to use even if you have never tried Excel before:

Key in the amounts for each item in cells marked with $ signs.
Use the Enter key to move on to the next item.
You don’t have to calculate the totals or subtotals - they are calculated automatically as you go. When you have finished, the spreadsheet will show your surplus or deficit income.

To download the spreadsheet visit http://www.fido.asic.gov.au/fido/fido.nsf/ef531319dbd6d282ca256afd001db469/a8b623072a4eb1bdca256e5f001eb443/$FILE/BudgetPlanner-v3.xls