How to Make a Spending Plan: Step 3, How Much Do You Earn?¹

Josephine Turner and Nayda I. Torres²

It is time to determine your income. This way you know how much money is available to spend and save.

Income is available from many sources. On the list which follows, check the ones that apply to you and fill in the amount:

Table 1.

	Paycheck
	Pension
	Social Security
	Unemployment
	Public Assistance
	Food Stamps/WIC
	Money from Relatives
	Other (babysitting, house cleaning, yard work, tips, recycling, etc.)

Use the chart that fits your payroll schedule to determine your monthly income.

Table 2.

Weekly Wages and Salary
Payday 1	$
Payday 2	$
Payday 3	$
Payday 4	$
Payday 5	$
Total Income	$
Wages and Salary Every Two Weeks
Payday 1	$
Payday 2	$
Payday 3	$
Total Income	$

Add all of the income you get from part-time work each month.

Table 3.

Income from Part-Time Work
Babysitting	$
House Cleaning	$
Yard Work	$
Other	$
Total Part-Time Income	$

Add all of the income you get from other sources each month.

Table 4.

Income from Other Sources
Social Security	$
Food Stamps/WIC	$
Retirement/Pension	$
Public Assistance	$
Money from relatives	$
Total Other Income	$

Add the totals for your monthly wages, part-time work, and other income.

Table 5.

Grand Total of All Income
Total Monthly Wages	$
Total Part-Time Income	$
Total Other Income	$
Grand Total	$

The Grand Total is how much money you have available during a month. The sources of income and the amounts you make may change from month to month.

If you get into the habit of keeping good records, it will be much easier to calculate your income every month, just as you have done here.

It will help you find out exactly how much you can spend and save to achieve your short- and long-term goals.

Footnotes

1. This document is FCS 7169, one of a series of the Department of Family, Youth and Community Sciences, Florida Cooperative Extension Service, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida. First published: February 1997. Revised: August 2005. Please visit the EDIS Web site at http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu

2. Written by Nayda I. Torres, Professor, Family and Consumer Economics and revised by Josephine Turner, CFP, Professor, Family and Consumer Economics, Department of Family, Youth and Community Sciences, Cooperative Extension Service, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida, Gainesville FL 32611.

The Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (IFAS) is an Equal Opportunity Institution authorized to provide research, educational information and other services only to individuals and institutions that function with non-discrimination with respect to race, creed, color, religion, age, disability, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, national origin, political opinions or affiliations. For more information on obtaining other extension publications, contact your county Cooperative Extension service.

U.S. Department of Agriculture, Cooperative Extension Service, University of Florida, IFAS, Florida A. & M. University Cooperative Extension Program, and Boards of County Commissioners Cooperating. Larry Arrington, Dean.

How to Make a Spending Plan: Step 3, How Much Do You Earn?1

Footnotes

How to Make a Spending Plan: Step 3, How Much Do You Earn?¹