A beginner's guide to creating a budget for home expenses

by Tina Broyles, DRE 01009212 & NMLS 91630 03/27/2022

As a new homeowner, one of the first important tasks to accomplish is making a budget for home expenses. The homebuying process had a budget, but now it’s time to think about taking care of your home and enjoying it to the fullest.

To help you get started on making a household budget, here is a basic guide:

Identify your goals

Deciding on financial goals can be an excellent way to build your budget. Some examples of financial goals to consider might be paying off your mortgage early or financing a major renovation project.

List your expenses

Track your spending habits for a month to examine the details of your cash outflow. Include fixed expenses, like monthly mortgage payments and property taxes. Variable expenses like entertainment, maintenance and transportation costs should also be included.

Record your earnings

Figure out your exact income amount by listing all possible sources of money. This could include regular employment and also gains from selling or renting assets. For budgeting, use your net monthly income rather than gross monthly income to account for taxes.

Find your starting point

Once you have your total monthly expenses and net income numbers, you can do the math. A basic formula for finding a starting budget is: net income - total monthly expenses = monthly budget.

Expect adjustments

After finding your results, you may find opportunities to adjust. For example, you might want to set aside more money into an emergency fund regularly, or find ways to limit your daily spending.

These are only the first steps in creating a workable household budget to account for ongoing costs of homeownership. Use this process as an example for building your own personalized financial plan for your life in your new home.

About the Author
Author

Tina Broyles, DRE 01009212 & NMLS 91630

HELLO.... Im a California Bay Area Resident serving the Real Estate community since 1987!

I serve people with professionalism, knowledge and care and my business has grown to almost 100% referred as a result.

Happily married with two grown children and two beautiful granddaughters, Audrina & Chesney! 

I love to golf, exercise, Bible study & serve the Homeless weekly in Milpitas.

I support our businesses and our community.

I'm well known and respected by my peers in our community. Voted Best of Milpitas every year since 2000-2020 until we relocated to San Jose in 2020

One of the compliments we consistently hear is how responsive we are to our client’s needs. That is so important to us!

I'd be honored to get to know you and your family and put my real estate experience to work for you!

ABOUT MY BUSINESS:

My Team represents a diverse array of skills and provides the perfect balance of experience and professionalism working in the Bay area. Our technology capability is beyond expectation!

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