At Equity Mates Media, we’ve got two podcasts designed to help new investors and those who are yet to get started. Here’s what we’re chatting about this week…
This week on Get Started Investing, Bryce and Ren talk through finding the right budget. Chances are at some stage you’ve Googled ‘effective budget template’ but today we are going to share ours with you! No need to keep searching.
Maddy and Sophie from You’re In Good Company are talking about how to make more $$$ in the midst of a cost of living crisis. The girls chat about the pros and cons of having a side hustle, and share some of their best resources for making cash RIGHT NOW.
Hey, this got us thinking
The Equity Mates Checklist for a Budget Template
1. Income – all forms (debatable)
When creating a budget template, we think it’s up to you to decide what sources of income you want to track. It can include your salary, freelance work and any side hustles! The guys only focus on their take-home pay after taxes and deductions.
2. Expenses – be comprehensiveYour budget template needs a comprehensive list of all your expenses, including fixed expenses like rent or mortgage repayments, car payments and insurance. Be honest and allow enough to cover variable expenses like groceries, entertainment and other discretionary spending.
3. Debt repayments
If you have any outstanding debt, such as student loans, credit card debt or a mortgage, your budget template should include a section for repayments. This will help you keep track of your progress in paying down your debt!
4. Savings/Investing
One of the most important elements of a good budget template is a section for savings and investing. This will help you plan for future expenses, such as a down payment on a house, a new car or retirement.
There’s no one-size-fits-all approach to budgeting, just like anything super personal – getting fit, eating well, studying. A great budget is just a really useful tool. It’ll track what you need, how you need it – monitoring your income and expenses, helping you manage your debt repayments, and plan ahead for your financial goals.
Here are some examples!
The Equity Mates Discussion Group is here.
The YIGC Budget Template is here.
FYI
A resource that we’re continuously building is our book recommendations page.
Over the Equity Mates journey so far, we’ve had hundreds of expert investors join us on the show. And each time we interview them, we ask for a book recommendation that helped them.
Some of them are investing specific, others are business-based and some are just great all-round reads. You can check out the book recommendation list here.
A few other things to be aware of…
- FinFest is returning in 2023! Make sure you have 11 November 2023 marked in your calendar. FinFest is returning and you don’t want to miss it! Registration is now open, and by entering your email you’ll keep up to date and access early bird tickets.
- Some of the team have been testing out ChatGPT and have used it to build a daily, clue-based, Wordle-like game: Biznerdle. If you want to test your knowledge of listed companies, give it a try.
This is an excerpt from our Get Started Investing Newsletter email. Once a week, for those , we’re featuring some of the most interesting content we’ve come across in this weekly email. No spam, we guarantee.