Calculating your home loan budget with the home loan calculator wouldn’t just give you the cut, but also personal loans – But what’s better, you can even put your personal budget together with these guidelines and home loan calculator.

WISE proved better over their competitors once again by offering not only an intelligent home loan calculator but also calculators/wizards to help you plan your personal budget and savings. There are various calculators available in their Tool section in their site, and it’ll be definitely worth your time checking it out.

Maintaining a budget (proper cash-flow) within your means is sometimes hard enough. Most people have a vague idea of where their money usually goes – And for many times, the outcome isn’t as what they think it is. Creating a monetary system is recommended – Itemized income and expenses. The more closely you monitor the cash-flow, the better optimized your financial budget is. Among the seven (7) simple steps are:

1. Choosing a financial system
   The best way to stay on track with your income and expenses is to actually track it. Banking online will be great help, but for more control and review over your expenditures and income, try financial software like Microsoft Money.
2. Determine your income(s)
   A more accurate way to estimate your budget is to calculate earnings over a long period of time. Always include all of your income sources: Wages, bonuses, dividends, pensions, interests, tax refunds and so forth. Be sure that you’ll receive that income; if not, put that in your ‘Pending’ pay-book note or in another file.
3. Determine your expenses
   Take into account your “Variable”, “Fixed” and “Discretionary” costs. Variable expenses are defined as committed ‘changeable’ expenses such as groceries, credit card and medical bills; Fixed costs are expenses defined as a committed fixed rate to pay such as taxes, home loans, education savings and so forth; Discretionary costs are expenses defined as ‘extra spending’. For example, magazines, dining out, movies, concerts and football matches.
4. Compare income and expenses
   If your expenses are higher than your income(s), rectify this problem first. Always look at your financial statuses over a period of months, then evaluate your spending by thrashing out extras to pay off high interest debts first (credit cards). Borrowing money for personal use is never the way to go – Only buy what you can afford.
5. Determine your goals
   Set your goals – Whether you’re saving for children’s education, retirement, or paying off someone else’s debts. If you need to reduce your Discretionary expenses, make it clear: Reduce the number of eat-outs from 3 times a week to 2, go for a movie twice a month rather than 4 times a month.
6. Improving and improvising
   After setting your goals, you need to detail your budget and find solutions to clear the situation at hand. The best way to improve the situation is to ask yourself a few questions: Are some items actually my needs or is it disguised as a need? Did I spend more on beers or cigarettes this month? Am I not claiming taxes that I can? Ask yourself this question and rectify the problem immediately. Don’t delay or you’ll see a huge loss figure at the end of your ‘evaluation’ period.
7. Monitor and evaluate
   Stay on track with point 1-6 and justify the value of your financial status. Should there be any extra problems, run through steps 1-6 again. Adjust your budget(s) efficiently so that you can have enough for future investments.

Use our home loan calculator to optimise your budget.