Does thinking about the word budget make you afraid or nervous? Many families find it difficult to think about creating and maintaining a family budget, but it is an effort that in the long term can help to have better control and organization of family expenses. Cash Delivery has created 5 simple steps to help you create a family budget.
Keep Track of all the expenses: Bring both partners or each family member who contributes to the household income to determine exactly where is the money going – yes, every snack or bottle of water counts. Keeping receipts will help when making the list of expenses; you can use a spreadsheet, expense tracking app or even pen and paper to make this list. It is also very important to categorized your expenses.
Determine the total Income: First, estimate the expected income to be earned monthly by every member, each member can take the income from previous months as reference and thus have a more accurate estimate. If all members have fixed salaries, the process becomes simpler. Then, add each members income that is expected to earned as a family (we will call this total the “family income”).
Evaluate your current situation: Now that you have the amount you are spending and the estimated family income, subtract the total expenses from the estimated family income. If you get a negative number you are spending more than you should and this is the right moment to take a look on the spending habits or adjust some unnecessary expenses. If the number is zero, you are in good shape and you are able to cover all your expenses without falling into debt. However, in order for you to star saving money that could be use in the future as a backup for any family emergency, car problems, house maintance or even going on a vacation, you will need to convert that into a positive number.
Build Savings: After you managed to accommodate some of the expenses, reconsidered some that were not so necessary and changed the family spending habits, it is time to start saving. A very good method to use is by applying the 50%, 30% and 20% rule. This means spending 50% on “needs”, 30% on “wants” and 20% goes directly to savings. Try to make the savings using an automatic transfer to the family savings account every time each member gets paid.
Monitor the Budget: It is extremely important to review the budget since it is very easy to lose track. if for any reason or emergency the budget is distorted or altered, try to get it back on track as soon as possible.
