A household budget is a basic tool for personal finance. If you don’t have your own household budget, find out why you should make one and how to get started.
Everyone has savings goals that they’re trying to meet. The savings could be for something small, like an emergency fund. Or the savings could be for something far more ambitious like your retirement or your children’s education fund.
Paying Down Debt
A household budget can help you pare down debt, whether you have maxed out credit cards or outstanding loans. You can slowly tackle that problem until you’re in the clear.
Otherwise, you can go insolvent, and you may have to choose between filing for a debt proposal or filing for bankruptcy — click here to better understand the differences of bankruptcy vs proposal and see what benefits each one offers. A household budget is a tried-and-tested debt management method. This is why licensed insolvency trustees recommend it to clients who want to get back to financial stability.
Otherwise, you can go insolvent, and you may have to choose between filing for a debt proposal or filing for bankruptcy — click here to better understand the differences of bankruptcy vs proposal and see what benefits each one offers. A household budget is a tried-and-tested debt management method. This is why licensed insolvency trustees recommend it to clients who want to get back to financial stability.
How Do You Make a Household Budget?
To make a simple household budget, take out a spreadsheet and a pencil. At the top, put in your monthly income. Then, slowly go through your expenses to see how much of your income they eat up.
Start with your fixed expenses — these are costs that you can’t miss payments on and that you can’t cut down. It includes things like mortgage/rent, house insurance and property taxes. Then, go with your variable costs — these are categories that can be modified for the sake of savings. It includes things like groceries, transportationand entertainment.
Take a look to see how much money you have leftover. Then, see if you can make that amount bigger by shrinking your variable costs. The more cuts you can feasibly manage, the more cash you’ll save.
If you’re having trouble doing the calculations on paper, there are always budgeting apps like You Need a Budget and Mint that you can download on your smartphone.
Take a look at your spending on food. You can buy less takeout and go out to restaurants less. And you can be strategic about your grocery shopping:
And if you spend a lot of money on entertainment, you should consider cheaper alternatives. For instance, instead of paying for movie tickets and $20 bags of popcorn, you can stream movies and make popcorn at home.It’s a similar experience at a fraction of the price.
You shouldn’t be blindly spending your paycheques. You should know exactly how much money you have available to spend, and how much has to sit in the bank. A household budget is the perfect tool to track your finances, reach your savings goals and avoid deep financial trouble.
Start with your fixed expenses — these are costs that you can’t miss payments on and that you can’t cut down. It includes things like mortgage/rent, house insurance and property taxes. Then, go with your variable costs — these are categories that can be modified for the sake of savings. It includes things like groceries, transportationand entertainment.
Take a look to see how much money you have leftover. Then, see if you can make that amount bigger by shrinking your variable costs. The more cuts you can feasibly manage, the more cash you’ll save.
If you’re having trouble doing the calculations on paper, there are always budgeting apps like You Need a Budget and Mint that you can download on your smartphone.
How Do You Cut Variable Costs?
You need to trim variable costs, but where should you start?Take a look at your spending on food. You can buy less takeout and go out to restaurants less. And you can be strategic about your grocery shopping:
- Use coupons
- Take advantage of discounts and sales
- Don’t shop when you’re hungry or in a rush
- Make a grocery list and stick to it
- Buy less meat
And if you spend a lot of money on entertainment, you should consider cheaper alternatives. For instance, instead of paying for movie tickets and $20 bags of popcorn, you can stream movies and make popcorn at home.It’s a similar experience at a fraction of the price.
You shouldn’t be blindly spending your paycheques. You should know exactly how much money you have available to spend, and how much has to sit in the bank. A household budget is the perfect tool to track your finances, reach your savings goals and avoid deep financial trouble.
