Your FREE personal survival budget template

When you’re starting a business, it’s important to know how much money you need to live on each month. Creating a personal survival budget will give you a realistic view of your personal financial position, which in turn, will help you make informed business decisions. 

By knowing how much you need to live on, you can understand how much money your business needs to make, and whether or not you'll be able to make the repayment of any start-up loans you access.

It is especially important if you need to be strict with putting money aside as it can help minimise overspending. 

Your personal budget should include your incomings and outgoings. 

This is all the money that comes in each month, including: 

Wages - any part-time or full-time wages paid each month (include bonuses where applicable).

Benefits - do you receive any government benefits (these might be effected when you start your own business)?

Pension – if you’re in receipt of a private or state pension, include it in your personal survival budget.

Savings - do you have any savings you're willing to use? Work out how much you have and how long it is likely to last.

Other income – include any other income you receive from things such as property rentals.

Only include income that will be ongoing. Don't include one off payments or income from a job you are planning on leaving. 

This is everything you pay out each month. Listing all the money leaving your bank account can feel like a daunting task. It can be tempting to underestimate aspects of your outgoings to make it look better on paper - but it won't help anyone.

Be as honest and thorough as possible to give yourself an accurate view of your financial position.

Things to include should be:

Bills - it’s really important that bills are paid each month, failing to do so can land you in serious trouble. List all the utility bills you pay for each month as well as any other long-term contracts you need to pay for (gym memberships, subscriptions, etc).

Living costs - account for things like mortgage/rent payments, food shopping, entertainment, socialising and travel. Some of these may seem like ‘nice-to-haves’ that you could go without, but remember, it’s important to enjoy yourself and live your life.

A good way to estimate your monthly living expenses is to look at a few months' worth of bank statements and see how much you typically spend.

Family - if you have a family to support, factor in any expenses this incurs into your personal survival budget. Things like clothes, school lunches, classes and childcare costs.

Debts - don’t ignore any debt repayments you might have. These could be repayments on loans, credit cards or anything you’ve purchased on finance.

It's a good idea to refer to your last three months' bank statement to see how much typically comes in and out of your account. 

Once you have accounted for all of your monthly incomings and outgoings, you’ll be able to work out how much money you have left over each month. To do this, calculate: 

Incoming – Outgoing = Remaining or Shortfall. 

If you’re left with a negative figure, your outgoings are exceeding your income. This shortfall means you may need to look at how you can cut down costs or bring in more income.

If the figure is positive, you can move more into savings or choose to loosen the purse strings slightly throughout the month. 

Have a look at your bank statements over the last few months, this will give you an insight into what is paid in and taken out each month.

Download our FREE personal survival budget template below and start inputting your personal outgoings and income.