Family budgeting to increase wealth
We are constantly amazed that our money disappears so rapidly despite our perceived frugality and spending wisdom. Most of us could calculate roughly how much is spent on daily and weekly essentials. Rising interest rates have meant that the media has inundated us with reports about mortgages and the housing market fluctuations. Escalating fuel costs also feature prominently in daily news broadcasts.
We may well be prompted by the media’s focus to consider looking at how we are managing our finances. Setting up a budget for your household is a great way to take and keep control of your money. It facilitates financial discipline. It is not an overwhelming task but it does require commitment. You will definitely need to have full information about your income sources and your financial liabilities.
Talking with your spouse and family members will be helpful. Communicate openly and honestly and establish and define individual roles clearly. Don’t let unhelpful emotions impede your efforts to discuss how you will all work together to balance your work load and maintain positive attitudes.
Encourage members of your household to talk with work colleagues about ways to budget and save money. Read widely and consider how you could make suggestions work for your circumstances. View your first budget as a trial and keep everything that works and discard or replace the elements that are not practical.
Discussions about finances can cause feelings of discomfort, anxiety and stress. Be mindful of how others are feeling and communicate frankly and respectfully. The key to success is to work collaboratively and to set up a realistic budget that addresses individual and household goals.
A household budget needs to identify all the things that reduce the savings for your household. Each family will have some different elements but there is also a common core of things that require money to be spent. Listing these things and grouping them together into general categories simplifies the budgeting process. Any loans and obligations must be listed diligently and truthfully.
Food, laundry and household cleaners, tissues, garden fertilizer and lawn mower repairs, the families lunches at work or school and linen would fall under the living expenses category. Haircuts, pharmacy, health club memberships, sporting expenses and medical, dental and optical could go into the family category
Whether buying or renting your family’s home or apartment this is a major budget item. There are often hidden costs and these can be best established by listing all these over a short period of time and keeping a jotter handy so that you can itemize other expenses as you remember them. If you do this methodically you will soon have a complete list of all outgoings connected with your place of residence.
Transportation is of high importance due in large to the escalating fuel costs. Most people are unable to walk to work or school and any form of transport comes with a cost. Insurances, parking decals and parking garage fees, repairs, memberships for emergency breakdown services, taxi fares, bus and train passes all drain money from the funds that a family has to spend. Choosing to ride a push bike, motorbike or snow machine may reduce travel costs but special clothing may be necessary.
Financial discipline does not happen overnight. You need to work consistently to make a real difference in your spending and saving patterns. It may not be possible to reduce some costs but with a determined effort you will find it financially easier to meet these. Good luck.
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