Do you need help figuring your total income? This may help.
Total Your Income
Your expenditures account for only half of the picture. You also need to add up your monthly income.
On a blank sheet of paper, list the jobs for which you receive a salary or wages. Then, list all self-employment for which you receive income, including farm income and sales commissions. Finally, list other sources of income, such as:
- bonus pay
- dividends and interest
- alimony or child support
- pension or retirement income, and
- public assistance.
Record net income. Next to each source of income, list the net (after deductions) amount you receive each pay period. If you don't receive the same amount each period, average the last 12.
Next to each net amount, enter the period covered by the payment -- such as weekly, twice monthly (24 times a year), every other week (26 times a year), monthly, quarterly, or annually.
Determine monthly income. Finally, multiply the net amount by the number of pay periods to determine the monthly amount. For example, if you are paid twice a month, multiply the net amount by two. If you are paid every other week, multiply the amount by 26 (for the annual amount) and divide by 12.
When you are done, total up all the amounts. This is your total average monthly income.
Coming up in part 3: Steps to making your budget
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