Making a budget

No matter the endeavor — spring cleaning, job hunting, creating a budget — the hardest part is getting started. The good news? When it comes to creating a budget, we’re here to help. Sorry, we won’t be of much assistance when it comes to spring cleaning, but good luck!

Here at Voya, we can help provide a simple, workable budget that gives you a real-time look at your income and expenses today. You can then use that information to make both short-term and long-term changes to your finances. And you can make updates monthly to track your progress.

Our budget calculator does the hard work for you

The Voya Home Budget Calculator can help you manage your money so that you can enjoy today and save for tomorrow. The calculator is easy to use, and even allows you to print out the results and see graphs of your finances. You can find detailed instructions for using the calculator by clicking the link above, but here’s a quick overview:

• Open up the calculator and enter all of your current income and expenses. You’ll use these numbers as a baseline to measure your progress each month.
• Fill in the amounts as accurately as possible using actual bills, paycheck stubs, statements, receipts and those little scraps of paper you keep finding in your coat pocket. Variable costs like utility bills should be averaged by adding up the last 12 months, dividing that by 12, then entering the answer in the calculator.
• Let the calculator do the rest. When you are finished entering all the amounts, the calculator will total it all up and you can print out a report.

You’ve got your numbers. Now what?

Use your printed report as a worksheet and look for areas where can you adjust spending. How much can you cut? Do you need more income from a second job? How much more could you earn if you did?

Using these new amounts, you can do a “what if” scenario by entering them into the calculator and running new reports. If you’re happy with how new numbers look, you can use that information to develop new action steps to bring your income and spending into alignment. Not happy with the results? Keep playing with the numbers and let the calculator do the heavy lifting.

Roll with the changes — you’re ready

Once you’ve settled on how to spend your money and made real changes to your income or spending, you can continue to use the calculator. After all, it’s rare that a budget is set in stone. Fortunately, with planning as your foundation, and the calculator as your guide, you’ll find it easier to stick to your budget — no matter what life throws your way.