Tips for savings & budget template 2025

Simple steps to get your budgeting on track:

• Keep a record of your income

  To put it simply, budgeting is balancing your income and your expenses. Keeping a record of you the amount and frequency of your expected income, as well as any additional extra, is the first step toward understanding how and where to account for costs and expenses.

• Create a projection of your income

  Once you have a record of your income, it’s time to create a projection of it to understand exactly how much money you can expect to receive over certain periods. This could be the next three months, six months, or year. If you receive extra income or additional incomes from different sources at different frequencies, it may be beneficial to total the income you expect to receive for the whole year and then divide that by 12 to get your expected monthly income. Seeing a projection of what you will be earning will set a strong foundation for working out how much money you have to budget each month.

• Add in your expenses

  Now that you’re tracking what money is coming in, it’s time to look at what goes out. By adding crucial expenses in the same way as your income, you can keep an up-to-date record of how much those expenses are, when they are due, and when they are paid. The first port of call with active budgeting is to tally up all your non-negotiable monthly expenses, such as your rent or mortgage, your utility bills, childcare or school fee costs, and your home and medical insurance costs. If it something you can live without, leave it for your bonus expenses.

• Budget for important variables

  One of the most important but most fluctuating costs to budget for is your groceries. Work out what you anticipated regular monthly spend on groceries is, then add that to your budget. If you find your costs are varying significantly, work out a median to use as a starting figure. This can then be readjusted later down the line, after all, a budget is a living and breathing document!

• Budget for emergencies

  While no one likes to think of worst-case scenarios, keeping an emergency fund is a crucial pillar within a budget. Only you know what amount you are most comfortable with, so open up a discussion with your nearest and dearest to determine what this should look like. A good target, according to the Australian Government, is to enough set aside to cover three months of expenses. If you're still working on building up your emergency find, budget a small amount each month to contribute towards this until you reach your goal.

• Add in your bonus expenses

  Once you have accounted for all important expenses in your day-to-day life, add in other regular expenses that are most important to you. This could include subscriptions and/or gym memberships.

• Get creative with tracking spending

  After you have accounted for your most important spending – things like your mortgage, rent, health insurance or childcare – you can move on to discretionary extras. The regular activities or experiences you would like to specifically save towards. Hoping for a skiing holiday? If you have money left over in your budget, you could set aside a small amount each month towards future travel.