Financial Fitness Spending Guide

The Virginia Society of Certified Public Accountants (VSCPA) offers tips to preparing your personal spending plan. Essentially, there are three basic steps to getting your personal spending into shape:

• Determine income
  
• Estimate expenses
  
• Adjust spending to income available

Download and print a spending guide, or use the work sheet below to analyze your income and expenses. Once these items are down on paper, you can see where your money is going. Then you are better prepared to decide where you would like to allocate your money and where you can cut back/save. If you are developing a spending plan for your entire family, total the weekly income and expenses for all family members.