Write your monthly income on the top of a piece of paper. This will be your starting point for the month and all of your monthly expenses will be listed beneath.
List out your regular monthly expenses. You will want to start by listing your rent or mortgage payment as it is important to have your shelter paid for should the money run out before you get to the end of your budget. After your shelter, list all of your utilities as well as your grocery budget for the month. If you have your house payment made, your utilities are on, and food is in the refrigerator then you have covered all of your necessary monthly expenses. Total the amounts listed in the regular monthly expenses section.
Subtract your regular monthly expenses from your monthly income. This will give you the amount that you have leftover to apply towards debt and any other monthly expenses.
List your debt payments in the next section. This includes your car note, credit card payments, personal loans and other debts. List these in order of importance. If you have a car note, not paying it could lead to repossession so it would take priority over an unsecured credit card. Total your monthly debt payments.
Subtract your monthly debt payments from the amount you have after completing step three. This is the discretionary income that you have for the month.
Write out what you plan to do with your discretionary income. You can apply it to a savings or investment account, create a sinking fund for holiday spending or pay it down on existing debt.
Repeat the same steps for the following month. Even though you are on a fixed income, your monthly expenses might change a bit. Creating a new budget for every month will help you put your money to work for you instead of wondering where it all went at the end of the month.