Download Budget Plan Tools

Disclaimer: The following tools have been designed for use by NZFFBS certificated budget advisers. They are available here for personal use only and the NZFFBS Inc takes no responsibility for the accurateness of the calculations.

These tools will help you to begin to construct your own personal Budget Plan. If you need any further advice once you have completed these then please feel free to bring them along with you to an NZFFBS affiliated budget service to work through with a certificated adviser. To download the tools:

In Mozilla Firefox © - click the link, choose 'Save to Disc', then click 'OK'

In Microsoft Internet Explorer © - right-click the link, choose 'Save Target As', then click 'Save'

Budget Worksheet

The Budget Worksheet is the best place to begin for most people. The first time you fill out your Budget Worksheet you probably won't include all items and you may estimate some amounts, which is fine. Use this first draft to help you think about all of the items of spending you make in a day/week/month/year.

Just enter your weekly income and spending into any of the yellow boxes that are relevant to your situation. You can continue to update amounts of income and spending and the spreadsheet will automatically update your final totals for you each time.

If your Budget Worksheet total ends up as a negative number or even if it doesn't appear to leave you much at the end of the week, again don't worry. This is the first step for you to begin thinking about how you can increase your income and decrease your spending. This is the beginning of your Budget Plan.

Budget Worksheet.xls

Cashflow

Once you have completed a final draft of your Budget Worksheet you can begin to work on the next step, which is the Cashflow. The Cashflow may look a little daunting to begin with but is a very powerful tool in helping you toward your financial goals. Just download the spreadsheet and refer back to the instructions on this page until you get the hang of it.

Enter your weekly income and spending into any of the yellow boxes that are relevant to your situation. You can continue to update amounts of income and spending and the spreadsheet will automatically update your final totals for you each time.

Enter your current total cash in the balance brought forward box in column 1 on your Personal Cashflow

Enter your actual pay dates (weekly or fortnightly) at the top of each column

Enter your expected income for each period

Enter your expected annual costs in the columns where they will fall due – e.g. vehicle registration in column 48, etc.

Enter your expected monthly costs in the columns where they fall due – e.g. power in columns 4, 8, 11, 14, etc. telephone in columns 2, 5, 8, etc.

Enter your weekly/fortnightly costs in the columns where they fall due – e.g. groceries in 1, 2, 3, etc. rent in 1, 2, 3, etc. petrol in 2, 4, 6, 8, etc.

Enter your predicted irregular spending and income in the columns where you guess they will occur – e.g. medical, presents, clothing, etc.

Cashflow.xls

10-Plan Shopping Guide

Here is a simple way to help you balance a healthy diet with your food budget. What is the 10-Plan? The 10-Plan shows how to spend portions of your food money so that you choose the right foods to make a balanced diet. (These slides are kindly contributed by the New Plymouth Budget Advisory Service).

10 Plan Shopping Guide.pps

Otago Food Cost Survey 2008

Each year the Department of Human Nutrition calculates the weekly cost of purchasing a healthy diet for men, women, adolescents, and children.

Food cost data is collected by Student Dieticians in Auckland, Hamilton, Wellington, Christchurch, and Dunedin on the first Monday in March each year, and analysed in the Department of Human Nutrition. A standard protocol is followed. Since 2003 they have calculated the costs from four supermarkets in each centre. Wherever possible, supermarkets have been selected on the basis of the greatest consumer throughput in each centre. The costs presented have assumed that food would be prepared at home.

Food Cost Survey 2008.pdf

The Great Little Cookbook

It was Work and Income frontline staff who first suggested that families could benefit from a down-to-earth book that showed simple ways to choose, prepare and serve food that was healthy and inexpensive. It is the partnership of the Nelson Marlborough and West Coast District Health Boards with Work and Income’s Regional Office in Nelson that has brought this suggestion to fruition.

The Great Little Cookbook.pdf

© 2007 New Zealand Federation of Family Budgeting Services Inc.