Video:Create a Family Budget in Microsoft Money

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Transcript:Create a Family Budget in Microsoft Money

Hi, I'm Don Schechter with About.com Money. Today I will show you how to create a family budget using Microsoft Money.

Download Microsoft Money

Microsoft Money is a downloadable program from microsoft.com. You can download a free version if you want to try it out, or purchase it for your home or office at www.microsoft.com money.

I am using the Money essentials version but you can create budgets in any version of MS Money to keep track of expenses or only what you spend in certain categories, like eating out.

Select the Type of Budget

To create a budget click on the 'Budget' tab and then click 'Next.' Here you can choose how detailed you want your budget to be.

If you want to track all of your family spending, click 'Set up a budget to track my monthly income and expenses.'

If you only want to track expenses in certain categories, click 'Track monthly spending only in my spending tracker.' I'll choose to set up a budget for my family. Click 'Next.'

Enter Your Net Income

On the next screen, enter your regular net income. Net income is the amount of money you take home.

If you have more than one source of income, enter them separately. They will be totaled for one monthly amount. If you have more than three incomes, click 'Add income item' at the bottom. When you're finished, click 'Next.'

Here, you can check off which specific categories you want in your budget. I'll select a few. Click 'Next.'

Decide How Much You Spend Each Month

The next page will take some time to fill out. You should think carefully about how much you regularly spend each month on each category.

Fill in how much you spend on these items. It is a good idea to leave a little wiggle room in case you end up getting Mom a more expensive gift this year or your insurance rates go up.

MS Money calculates your spending average in each category based on the amount you actually spend each month during the last year. Click 'Next.'

Select Categories to Watch

On this screen, you can check off categories that you want to watch closely. Some that I like to keep an eye on include entertainment and dining out. Click 'Finish.'

View Your Family Budget Summary

Now you can view your budget summary, which includes totals for income, expenses, and the remainder for your family budget, as well as transactions of what you've actually been spending.

If you get in the habit of categorizing transactions when you enter them, the spending tracker makes it easy to see where your money goes on your MS Money home page.

Thanks for watching. For more information, visit us at money.about.com