Discount Diva: Make time to write down a budget

Whether you’re giving your finances a complete overhaul or just a tune-up, creating a budget is key. But it ain’t easy.

Your pulse races. Your head pounds. You want to whack your smirky husband in the head with his little bottle of orange Gatorade because he keeps pawing the calculator. But that hour of frustration is worth the months of smoother sailing and financial stability it will bring.

And fortunately, the Internet is filled with free budgeting tools to help you get the job done. I like BankRate. com’s Home Budget Calculator. It breaks everything down so all you have to do is gather your bank statements, pay stubs and bills and take a deep breath. Once you’ve got a handle on where everything is being spent, you can take stock and tweak areas that might be out of whack. To be sure you’re living within your means, financial-planning Web site Crown.org suggests how areas of spending should measure up:

•Housing: Housing should make up no more than 30 percent of your net spendable income (money left after taxes and charitable giving). This category includes mortgage or rent, home insurance, maintenance (such as new furnace filters or weather stripping) and utilities.

• Food: Things like groceries — not dining out — should comprise about 11 percent of your budget.

• Automotive: The family car makes up 14 percent. Take a close look at this one. Lots of folks overspend in this category for the sake of driving something flashy. This includes your car payment, auto insurance, maintenance (think oil changes) and replacements (such as brake pads).

• Personal insurance: Coverage such as life, health and disability insurance, covers 5 percent.

• Repayment of debt: Getting in the black gets 5 percent. However, this category can vary greatly. Paying off debt should be a priority, so it’s worth shaving off expenses in other areas to devote more money to repayment efforts.

• Entertainment: Dining out, vacation and recreational activity and movies get a suggested 7 percent.

• Clothing: Your wardrobe covers 6 percent. Crown.org suggests allotting $10 per month per family member, even if it goes into a piggy bank. That way, you won’t get caught short when it’s time for back-to-school clothes or new winter boots.

• Savings: Crown.org favors socking away 5 percent, but there are a lot of variables here. You’ll want to make savings a top priority. Once you’ve got a healthy cushion in liquid savings — enough to cover at least three to six months of expenses — concentrate on debt repayment. Money has less power sitting in a low-yield savings account than it does blasting away at high-interest debt.

• Medical and dental: Costs such as physician payments get 4 percent.

• Investments: Money for stocks, bonds and mutual funds tallies 5 percent.

• Miscellaneous: Only 8 percent of your budget is left for all those expenses that don’t seem to fit anywhere else.

• Child care: If you’ve got child care expenses, they should comprise about 5 percent of your budget. But since it’s not figured into the standard formula, it’s up to you to decide which categories you want to steal from to make up that percentage.

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