To budget for monthly housing payments, first determine how often and how much you get paid. Then, save a portion of each paycheck for the payment that is due the beginning of next month. If you are paid every two weeks, save half of the amount due from the first paycheck and half from the second paycheck. If you are paid every week, save a quarter of the payment from each paycheck. By saving a portion of each paycheck for your upcoming housing payment, you will not have to come up with the entire amount all at once.
To keep track of the amount set aside for rent or mortgage payments, consider record-keeping methods such as a pen-and-paper ledger or notebook, a software program (a general one such as MS Excel or one of the various money management programs, or a money management Web site).
Housing expenses are only one part of a spending plan; record-keeping systems allow you to allocate money to all your typical expenses (such as food, travel, entertainment, child care, and so on). If you spend more money than you’d planned in one area, you must make up the difference from the other categories. If keeping the housing expense money just for use in paying housing expenses is a problem, then take steps to protect it, such as setting up an automatic transfer from your checking account to a saving account once a direct deposit is made.
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