The FIRM Guide

The Budget Module

The family's budgeting system, recurring obligations, financial goals, and the professionals who support them — a continuity reference for keeping the household running.

Download template Nothing is entered on this page — you fill the template in privately.

Text file — the flexible one. Use it as-is, open it in any editor, or paste it into an AI tool to reshape the blank form to fit your family: rename a field, add a row, drop one you don't need.

Print / PDF — the ready-to-use one. Print it and fill it in by hand, or choose Save as PDF and complete it in your own offline PDF app. Either way it stays with you — the finished Secure Guide template goes inside your Vault.

One rule: only ever give an AI tool the blank template. Never paste your real information — passwords, account numbers, anything you'd keep secret — into an AI tool, an online service, or anywhere outside your own Vault. Customizing an empty form is fine; filling it in happens privately, offline. That's the same rule this site follows: nothing sensitive ever leaves your hands.

Secure Guide Starter Template

This template belongs in The Secure Guide, stored within The Vault. It documents your budgeting system, recurring obligations, and financial goals. Account credentials belong in the password manager — referenced here, not stored here.

Spreadsheet / App / Professional / Informal priorities.
The tool you use, if any.
Where the budget lives.
By reference (password manager entry).
Monthly / Quarterly / Annually.
Who maintains the budget.
Anything a future maintainer should know.
Recurring Obligations — every fixed or predictable expense; variable expenses (groceries, fuel, discretionary) need not be listed here. For a full liabilities summary, see the Financial Accounts Module
ObligationAmountDue DateAutopay?AccountLogin Location
Financial Goals (Current)
GoalTimeframeNotes
Financial Professionals — for full advisor contact details, see the Financial Accounts Module; duplicate here only if relevant to budget management
NameRolePhoneNotes

Family Guide Starter Template

This template belongs in The Family Guide. It provides the minimum information needed to keep the household running — essential obligations, key accounts, and who to call.

These are the bills that must be paid to keep the household running. Full account details and login credentials are in The Secure Guide.

Essential Recurring Obligations
ObligationApproximate AmountDueAutopay?Notes
The bank holding the account.
Checking / Savings / Other.
Most bills draw from this account.
See The Secure Guide.
Financial Goals — Summary
StatementDetail
Who to Call
NameRolePhone