Setting up A Budget

Now more than ever, many of us are finding ourselves needing to make a budget plan. Balancing income or savings to monthly expenses is a necessity that you may have been taking for granted until recently. Creating a budget can help ensure you have the funds for the things that are important for you while also cutting costs you may not need.

While there are several methods for budgeting, Resource One offers a tool that’s easy to use, and best of all, it’s free. You can access this budgeting tool by using online banking or your R1 mobile app available for iPhone or Android. If you already have access to these resources, we have included a tutorial on how to make your budget.

How to Find the Budget Tool

• Start by logging into online or mobile banking. Both platforms are very similar, so it’s just your preference on whether you would like to work on a computer or your cellphone.
• Find the Budget Widget. This could be found on the left-hand side of the screen or under “More…” (It just depends on how you have your home banking set up.)

Using the Budget Tool
After you have found the budget tool, you can start your budget journey under the “settings” tab near the top of the page. On this page, you can name your budget, select your account, find the expense categories you wish to use, and add your income.

For Adding Income and Expenses

• Use the “Add a Category” button to add additional fields.
• Use the drop-down to select the category you wish to stay updated on and use the box next to this to add the amount you want to spend each month.

By adding amounts in each category, it helps set limits on where you are spending your money and will warn you when you are getting close to that limit.

Transactions Tab
One thing you might notice is that some expenses might not automatically be added to your budget category. For instance, your bills might seem way lower than usual. If you go to the “Transaction” tab, you can see your account transactions and manually add them to the category. Here are some tips to get them added:

1. Click the checkmark on the missing budget transactions.
2. At the top of the page, locate and click on the “Edit Selected” button.
3. Choose the category they need to be added to and click the “Save” button.

Review
After you have set up your budget and adjusted your transactions, you are now ready to view your efforts. This can be done in both the “Summary” tab and the “Spending” tab. At first this information might be a rude awaking. Most people don’t realize the amount of money they spend eating out, or for entertainment. By seeing this information organized, you can start deciding on what areas you need to work on and how you can cut unnecessary costs and allocate those funds somewhere else.