Family or Household Budgeting

When it comes to planning a budget for a family or household, there are a few king things to keep in mind. By making a budget and sticking to it, you are actually going to have more money in the long run, and it will go farther. That is a goal of many people, so why not begin to make a budget if you haven't done so already?

When you have a budget, you have a plan that helps you to set goals with your spending. It also is good to help you monitor if you are keeping to the plan or not. One good way to start is to look at the expenses of the last year and use that as a guide to create allocate how much you intend on spending this current year. This is worth the effort, because you may find that you had no idea how much you spent on some things. So it gives a good and realistic picture.

You will need to figure out how much you are spending on the big or obvious things, like rent or mortgage or lease, or transportation and food, and insurance, etc. Include the large bills that you only pay a few times a year.

Once you are on your way, you can see where you want to spend more money, perhaps in investing, and where you want to spend less money, say clothing perhaps. Many people want or need more money, and this is a good time to look realistically on what you have spent last year, to see what can be cut out. You might be amazed at what you find, and it could be very encouraging as you move forward to make needed changes.

One great tip is to keep it pretty simple, because then you are more likely to stick to your budget. Share what you are finding with those you live with, because everyone can help make keeping to a budget a reality.

Some ideas to get you started on your own budget are as follows:

Weekly Expenses, like Food, transportation, childcare, and household supplies

Monthly Expenses, like your housing, utilities, phone, loan repayments including credit cards

Quarterly or Annually, like, Taxes and Insurances

Other expenses like entertainment, medical and dental expenses, repairs, etc.

Tip: If you find it difficult to keep to your budget once you make it, consider to going to an all cash system for a while, and separating the literal cash out for each category. People have used envelopes, or filing systems for their cash like a plastic coupon organizer, only stashing your cash in there. For example, put in an allotted amount for entertainment each month, then only use what is in there. If a friend says, "hey lets go to a movie!" You can look in there to see if you can, and if you cannot, don't go, but set a date for the next time you can put a fresh months worth of money in there. It sounds a bit dramatic, but it really works for those that can't seem to keep to their budgets without such a system.