Not possible, we hear you say. Budget spreadsheets can never be fun.  

Oh, but they can be. You just need something to sweeten the deal. A treat. Kind of like giving a kid a lollipop after an injection. 

For example, why not do the budget over a nice meal and a bottle of wine? 

Or over a picnic, surrounded by the beauties of nature.  

How you do it is up to you. The point is, use your imagination to turn something dull into something well, less dull.  

You’ll need to go online and find a budget template. There’s plenty around – you shouldn’t need to pay, and ideally you want an Australian one. Take a look at the:

• Beyond Bank planner 
• Moneysmart Budget Planner.  

Fill it out. Yeah, we know there’s lots of rows, but try and do them all. Highlight the ones you think are too high. And take a punt on the ones you don’t know. You can work on them as the month goes by.  

This is a big activity – it’s the main event after all - but you’ve got all week to get it done. So, no excuses.