Monthly budgets detail your income and expenses one month at a time. Yearly budgets review all the income and expenses tracked over a year. An annual budget can be helpful if your income or expenses vary greatly by month or season (for example, if you’re a freelancer) and you need to look at the whole. Yearly budgets can also be useful for monthly budgeters, but only for looking at your bigger financial picture. Monthly budgets may more accurately reflect your immediate actual income or expenses.