I have multiple sources of income other than my full time job. The main difference between the other sources of income and my full-time employment is that the other sources of income aren’t always known.

I can estimate this fairly well, but it’s hardly ever an exact figure once the month is said and done. Some months I earn more than expected, and some months I earn less than expected.

As you can probably guess, this can be a little challenging when it comes to budgeting a set amount to enter into the income category for the month. I used to grab a sheet of paper and quickly estimate where I would be for any given month and budget for the month based on that data.

Over the course of the month, that piece of paper would get lost or buried under other papers, so I’d end up doing the whole process all over again. Sometimes I’d just wing it. Neither of these options were ideal, so I wanted to come up with a process that I could do every month consistently that would be easier and allow for me to really map out what I can expect to receive in a given month.

I’m a spreadsheet guy. I like spreadsheets. I like automatic calculations on a spreadsheet. I like to nerd out and enter numbers and watch those numbers become a total or convert to other data pieces that I can use for whatever it is that I’m working on.

So I decided to create  a simple spreadsheet that would automatically add up what I expected to make in a given month and give me a total that I can then apply to my monthly budget. I called this spreadsheet my “available income planner,” and it was easy to do. It took me just a few minutes, and I know that you can do this as well.

I created three columns: source, amount, and total. The total is an automatic calculation of anything recorded in the “amount” column. The source is where the money is coming from.

The great thing is that it forces me to think about different ways that I might bring in money for a given month, including ways that might be different from other months. For example, if I decide to have a garage sale or sell some stuff on an online marketplace, I can enter the amount that I expect to receive or have received in a previous month.

I can also enter what I earn in my business, my full time job, and other ventures. It helps me to get all of this information ready so that when I am doing the budget, I’m working with a starting number that is fairly accurate and has given me the opportunity to think of other ways that I might bring in more income in any given month to go towards paying down debt or paying for any other expenses that may arise.

I highly recommend you doing the same. As I said, it will only take you a few minutes if you’re proficient with spreadsheet software, or it could take you 10-20 minutes if you need to do a couple of quick Google searches on how to do this first. The information is readily available.

In any case, it’s a small step that will help to open your mind to possible new income opportunities as well as allow for you to really hone in on what you’re bringing in and what you can use to budget for any given month. Give it a try, and let me know what you think!