<prompt> Human: I graduated with a degree in personal finance in college yet I dont feel like I know how to budget. Any help would be appreciatedGross income: 40,000Traditional 401k: 7 employer matches 6 on 50 of my contribution, so 3 matchRoth 401k: 8 no employer matchMonthly net income: 1,964.84Rent: 400 monthUtilities water, sewage, trash, electric, internet: about 55 a monthhealth and auto insurance, and cell phone: 0 parents still pay these for nowDebt: 0 no student loans or car paymentsPersonal portfolio: 9,800 invested for a moderate risk tolerance. This money will be used for a new car, or a down payment for a home in a few years.My goal is to save up as much as I can so that I can afford 2-3 kids, a house, a nice car, travel, and retire by the time Im 60.This is my first job, so my income will only go up from here.  <response>: So the basics of a budget is to track every dollar. Start at the top with Gross Income. Then work thru your deductions and taxes to get to take home pay. Then from there just break down your monthly expenditures. If you are happy with how much you are spending, you dont really have to get down to the details of Clothing, Shoes, Hair Gel, etc You can just put that as one big Shopping item. Then by the end of that, you should be able to see how much you earning, spending and saving each month and on what. From there the fun starts. Want 100k saved up in 5 years, well that wont happen if you are only saving 100 dollars a month.Make another sheet listing goals and giving them a time frame. So if you want 100k in 5 years, thats 20k a year, so figure out how to get your savings number to at least 1700 a month. If that means buying less hair gel, then thats a place you can squeeze. Thats really it... 