Now I know that many will recoil in fear when I mention the "B" word - BUDGET. Math phobia or images of green eye-shaded accountant workload will fill your minds. Surprise, it does not have to be that complicated!

This can be a touchy subject to approach with parents because it calls for money questions. They may feel you are "checking up on them" or will disapprove of their spending habits. Again, go slow, speak calmly and remind them you are trying to help them make life a little easier. The information is for THEIR use.

If you can't get the information from them ("I don't remember"), checkbook registers & credit card statements will fill in a lot of blanks. Have a calculator handy. NO, you do not need a computer but if you're computer literate (you're reading this on a PC) and prefer to use a spreadsheet go ahead - I keep my parents budget in Excel.

Start simply with income and expenses for a typical month. On a sheet of paper first write a line for each monthly income and total (social security, pension, annuities, interest, IRA distributions, etc.). Then write on separate lines the monthly bills. Start with the easy ones, utilities (gas, electric, water, phone, cable) from their bills. Car payments, credit card & mortgage payments next.

Don't worry about cents, just record the dollars of each amount.

Insurance payments may be monthly, quarterly or semi-annually. Just take a monthly average (for example divide quarterly payment by 3). Property taxes the same, compute a monthly average of annual or semi-annual payments. Record any other regular expenses like lawn care, garbage collection, church donation, etc.

Now comes the hard part. Estimating the rest. Groceries, clothing, eating out, gas for vehicles, household items, hair care, etc. Use the checkbook registers & credit card statements (do they have a separate gas credit card?) to "guesstimate". Ask your parents how much they spend but do not be surprised if their figures are too low. You do not have to be exact, just ballpark figures will do.

There will be expenses that are not monthly, for example magazine & newspaper subscriptions, license fees, gifts bought, etc. Add an item for misc. and plug in a guess, say $200 per month, based upon what you've found.

Total the expenses and subtract from income. If the answer is negative don't be surprised. If the negative number is large start to worry and be resolved to act soon. This is just a rough snapshot of your parents’ budget at this point in time. You have the raw data to help make improvements.

For heavens sake do NOT yell at you parents if the results are bad. It will not help matters. (your budget any better?) Instead, take the approach that together you will look for ways to get positive.

If the income-expense result is positive that's a relief but you are not finished. There are always ways to improve that bottom line.

We'll talk about next steps in another entry... Take a break and relax your math brain cells for a while.