Family budget: planning, maintaining and accounting for income and expenses
And there is nothing complicated here, because the budget is just a financial plan, the strict observance of which gives a person firm confidence in the future. As a rule, before entering adult independent life, future spouses do not think much about how their parents could provide for the family, so that no one needs anything, and there are no unforeseen financial crisis situations.
Family budget and its pitfalls
According to other statistics, more than 60% of divorces occur precisely due to a lack of finances in the family – and this despite the fact that both spouses work because of their inconsistent behavior, or because of the inability to spend even minimal amounts on the personal needs of one of them. them due to the fact that all the money is in the "sole" management. It is also interesting that people who earn hundreds of thousands face the same problems as families with below average incomes. Both of them cannot cope with the same difficulties in budgeting and the inability to fit into their own established framework. So how to solve the problem of maintaining and maintaining the family budget? How to make sure that there is enough money not from payday to payday, but it would be possible to save up something and spend it on vacation,
Accounting for the family budget is half the solution to the problem
In order to live without need, it is necessary to save wisely and keep track of the money spent. The very process of daily counting the amounts spent by all family members is a very difficult task. To solve this problem, you can use a regular notebook or electronic assistants, of which there are now a great many. They will help analyze the financial situation of the family and determine its level. At this stage, you need to stop and think about the purpose of your actions and understand that using numbers alone and simply keeping records, you can't come to anything good. There should be the second half of the solution to the problem, which is the planning of the necessary expenses. Accounting for the family budget and its planning are one inseparable whole.
So, how to make a family budget
In order to avoid disagreements when agreeing on a financial plan, it is better to adhere to the following scheme. To begin with, you should decide on the most important priorities. Perhaps they will be the education of a spouse or children, savings for the realization of any goals in the future, or something else. These aspects will be the key moments of family life. Once they've been identified, it's time to set goals that your priorities lead to. It is important that the goals are as specific and specific as possible, in addition, they must be understood and supported by all family members. After setting goals, it is necessary to establish a system for their implementation and achievement. This is where we come to the need for budgeting.
Every family that cares about its financial well-being should be able to predict its future to the maximum extent possible. Thus, the correct answer to the question “How to draw up a family budget?" lies in the reasonable planning of expenses, in which income will always prevail over expenses. Moreover, the key word here will be “planning” as a consequence of forecasting the future. In order to start planning, you must first understand the income and expenses of the family.
Income and expenses of the family budget
First you need to bring together all family members and calculate the total amount of income. This amount will include salaries, bonuses, scholarships, pensions, dividends and other funds that the whole family receives. It is these funds that will be distributed across all items of expenditure. Of course, other options are also possible, such as the allocation of only a certain part of the income of each of the spouses for common needs. The rest will be spent on their personal needs, while maintaining a certain financial independence for each. The model, in which the family contains only one half, is beautiful because nothing needs to be divided, but is fraught with possible mutual recriminations. It often happens that a working spouse reproaches the second, that he, simply speaking, “sits on his neck” and does not bring money into the house. In order to solve this problem, the same family council is needed, which will show the possible costs for a housekeeper, a cook, a babysitter, etc., which may arise if a non-working spouse goes to work and ceases to perform the functions of the above workers. In Western countries, for example, pre-divided expenses are considered normal, so one person pays for housing and a loan, while the other “feeds” all household members. Which option to choose is up to each family to decide, but it is the general budget, as mentioned earlier, that has taken root best in our homeland. so one pays for housing and loans, while the other “feeds” all household members. Which option to choose is up to each family to decide, but it is the general budget, as mentioned earlier, that has taken root best in our homeland. so one pays for housing and loans, while the other “feeds” all household members. Which option to choose is up to each family to decide, but it is the general budget, as mentioned earlier, that has taken root best in our homeland.
So, after counting all the income, including such as, for example, gifts and fishing catches, we move on to the cash spending column. First, the most necessary and “mandatory” should be taken into account. These include paying for housing, utilities, education, food, pet expenses, monthly savings, current loans and other expenses that simply cannot be done without. The next column will be expenses related to everyday things, such as eating out, paying for the Internet, medicines, gas expenses, car repairs, gifts, pocket money, and so on. Finally, such expenses as recreation, entertainment, purchases that are not necessary and other similar free expenses are considered last.
Separately, I would like to note the importance of planned savings, which should go separately in your plan in the expense column and make up at least 10% of the total income. They should be your safety net for a sustainable and transparent future. These amounts can then be invested in any business ventures or investment funds and bring you a constant profit. We must not forget about pension contributions, they will become an important and necessary help for you in the future.
After both columns are filled in, you can calculate the income and expenses of the family budget and get a clear result. Amounts may vary depending on the situation. Therefore, it is necessary to keep such a monthly report for about six months. Then the picture of spending money will be the clearest. After reviewing the next report, you will be surprised at the amount spent on products. And next time, it would be quite natural to have the idea to visit a wholesale store and save a decent amount. And this is just the beginning…
The purpose of this study is to rationally use the income of the family and thereby improve its well-being. Therefore, having received the necessary data, it is necessary to proceed to the correct and reasonable planning of the family budget.
How to plan a family budget
It is common for expenditure to overtake income, and therefore a reasonable, stable balance is urgently needed between them. In order to achieve it and plan the family budget correctly, it is necessary to determine the needs of paramount importance in the family circle. It's not as easy as it seems at first glance. It often happens that everyone “pulls the blanket over himself” and only a compromise can help here. So, if it is necessary to spend a significant amount for urgent purposes, then the purchase of a long-awaited bicycle for a child should be, if not made, for example, in the current month, then it should be clearly planned for a certain moment in the future. The same goes for other major acquisitions.
If you start to skillfully reduce free spending on spending of secondary importance, then to your surprise, you will find that gradually at the end of the month the very missing funds for pleasant and necessary purchases appear, which until then had been postponed all the time. It is free spending that is a constant source of potential income. It may sound strange, but it's actually true. According to statistics, by reducing them, you can save up to 20% of the money you earn, and this is far from small. You can give up daily meals in cafes or restaurants and start cooking yourself and taking homemade lunch to work. When entering the store, you must have a pre-planned and thoughtful shopping list and not purchase unnecessary and, in essence, completely unnecessary things. This applies to products, clothing from fashion collections, new technology and more.
Family budgeting is your strategic plan
Strategy and practice are inseparable concepts. They must be included in your budget. How is achieving family well-being as a priority goal that family budgeting strives for differs from winning the battle? That's right, absolutely nothing. The right plan and strategy is already half the battle. Any successful commander, like a good strategist, will calculate everything: the place and conditions of the battle, the time of day and the number of the enemy, he will take into account his own weaknesses and win thanks to a carefully calibrated plan, which he will follow, not retreating, not a single step. The same should be true in the family.
“Never spend more than you earn” is already the motto of rich people and it must also be impeccably adhered to. And if it is very difficult to do this, then the best option would be to read the biography of some accomplished and successful person. And you will no longer have the question: “How to keep a family budget so that everything works out in life?”. Purposefulness, punctuality and strict adherence to the adopted plan will help you achieve what you want.