Microsoft Money Working Budget

Budgeting with Microsoft Money

• Make sure saving and spending adds up to 100% of the amount you plan to earn by reviewing the percentages at the bottom of the column '% of Income'. If the Total Expenses percentage is not equal to 100%, adjust the planned amounts for your budget groups until they add up to 100% by right clicking on the budget group, and selecting 'Change planned amount'.

• Customize categories and accounts by clicking on the + next to each budget group to see what accounts and categories Microsoft Money is using for the group. If you are tracking contributions to savings, retirement or debt accounts, make sure that the budget group includes the appropriate accounts. Remove accounts you do not want to track, such as any accounts you pay off every month.

• Check your savings and spending amounts by changing the budget time period (upper left) to a month that was typical of your spending patterns. Compare your spending in the Actual column to the goals you set in the Planned column and adjust Planned amounts as needed.

• Set planned amounts for individual categories or accounts. For a more detailed budget, enter a planned amount for each category or account in budget groups. You can also enter a planned amount only for categories you want to keep an eye on.

• Set up Spending Tracker. When you enter a planned amount for individual categories, you can use the Spending Tracker to create spending thermometers (graphs). The Spending Tracker graphs can be set to show on your Microsoft Money home page. To use Spending Tracker, click View Spending Tracker near top of the page, and then click Select Spending Tracker Categories and select the categories you want to watch.

• Be sure transactions are categorized. Remember that your Microsoft Money budget is based on categories, so if you do not categorize a transaction, your budget may be inaccurate. Click Categorize transactions in the left pane to view and categorize all uncategorized transactions from the last 30 days.

• Ensure that income exceeds expenses. It goes without saying that you always want your income to exceed your expenses. Review your total income and total expenses in the Actual column of the Microsoft Money Working Budget.

Go back to the first step of Microsoft Money Budget Tutorial.