Why you need to plan a family budget and how to do it right. Formation of the family budget - the golden rules of well-being and prosperity

Each family is a kind of state in miniature. There is a head, an accountant and a subsidized population, whose functions are performed by its members. Everyone knows how important it is on a national scale to organize planning, the correct distribution of funds, as well as sequestration when necessary. In the same way, you can draw up a family budget so that, without making big sacrifices and without putting the whole family on a starvation ration, you can not only properly manage money, but even save money, save some amount of resources as capital for the future.

Family budget: family income and expenses

One of the legendary American actors who became famous at the dawn of the twentieth century, a man named Will Rogers said that in our world too many people spend money that they don’t have on things that are completely unnecessary, and even in order to impress on those who are absolutely not interested in them.

In one phrase, he described an entire generation whose expenses significantly exceeded income, which is why various additional “infusions” were constantly required, in the form of loans and loans, so that the family would not collapse. Now it is already clear that this kind of irresponsibility does not lead to anything good, therefore it makes sense to learn how to draw up a family budget for a month, a year, and even more.

In fact, the budget is an estimate of all income, as well as expenses, based on a certain period of time. That is, all components of the family budget should be analyzed and written down at the beginning or at the end of the month, depending, most often, on the date of receipt of wages.

For what and why

Many people do not understand that money is just a tool that helps to solve certain life issues. That is why you should figure out why and who may need to draw up a family budget and maintain it, regularly marking all their income and expenses.

• A correct, well-designed family budget for a month and a table in an accessible format will help you clearly understand and understand long-term aspirations and goals and confidently go towards them. Agree that, mindlessly throwing money down the drain, you will hardly be able to save up for a ticket to the sea or a brand new car.
• A family budget table that gives a clear picture of the distribution of funds will allow you to take a different look at spontaneous purchases, understand where a lot of money goes and change your own shopping habits. It is hardly worth buying the seventeenth pair of red shoes or having lunch at an expensive restaurant every day if a trip to the sea or buying an apartment looms ahead.
• Emergencies and extraordinary events will never unsettle you, since the preparation of a family budget for a month implies a kind of reserve fund called an "airbag". Most often, it will amount to exactly as much money as is required for half a year of a tolerable existence, or at least three months of a quiet life, which can be spent looking for a new place.

That is, in case of an unexpected illness, natural disaster or loss of a job, for everyone who gets together and still makes a family budget for a month or more, emergency financial costs will not turn out to be a complete collapse. In fact, they will be planned in advance, even when there was no talk of any extraordinary situation.

How to make a family budget for a month: table

There are many methods and tools on how to correctly draw up a family budget. You can use an ordinary lined notebook, it will be the easiest, especially if you are not familiar with a computer. If you are on “you” with the Internet, you should look at special applications that you can not only use on a PC, but even put on your mobile phone or tablet. Let's take a look at the steps, how to deal with the tables, which will make all income and expenses transparent and understandable.

List of monthly expenses

To begin with, it is worth sorting out your spending, since it is the thoughtless squandering of funds that usually leads to collapse. Make a table with three columns, in which you will need to specify the necessary data. Get ready for the fact that you will have to write everything, down to the smallest detail, otherwise the table will be unreliable and will not help you cope with the budget analysis.

As you can see, it is divided into three main columns. In the first, enter the data on the place of spending, in the second - the amount spent, and in the third, note what exactly was bought with comments. Such a plate will allow you to immediately see exactly when, how and why spontaneous purchases were made, which you will have to completely get rid of.

• A bun with tea at the gas station could be dispensed with if you took a thermos and sandwiches from home.
• Replenishment of the account in the terminal required the payment of a commission fee. Such spending can be avoided by replenishing the balance through the online banking system.
• Water, like tea, can also not be bought, but taken from home, so you will not only save money, but also save the environment from excess plastic.

As you continue to record your spending daily, you will find that a lot of money just goes down the drain, which should not be allowed. Therefore, carefully enter everything into the table, without exception, spending, from large purchases to matches, water, a glass of coffee, pies, chewing gum and similar trifles.

Categories of expenses

After everything is more or less clear with waste, you can make a check or general table of expenses, dividing them into main categories. They can be as many as you need or profitable.

Ideal Budget

After a thorough analysis of what you spend per month, as well as the categories of personal expenses for the month, you can already create an ideal budget that will include all the necessary expenses.

• First, classify your expenses into categories and immediately set the amount you can afford against each of them, taking into account the total income of your family. This will be a reserve for the future, a kind of blank in which adjustments can be made.
• Create a new table of income and expenses for the next period. It will have to be divided into four main columns: categories of expenses, expenses for the last month, estimated expenses for the next month and actual expenses.
• It does not hurt to write down under each such sign how much you planned to earn per month, as well as how much you actually received.

By simply subtracting expenses from your real income, you can find out where you are. Most ordinary people, after conducting this kind of research, quite unexpectedly find that they are spending significantly more than they receive. You will have to refuse this, otherwise you will not be able to get out of permanent loans.

Analysis and cost reduction

The ultimate goal of this step is to reduce unnecessary or not very important expenses as much as possible. At the same time, it should be borne in mind that the quality of life should in no case deteriorate, otherwise such savings will not lead to good. Do you fanatically buy every green hat as soon as you see it, or can you refuse another cake with colleagues during lunch? All this is a good start for proper planning and allocation of funds.

Try to limit spending as much as possible by category, moving from one to another. It is clear that some expenses cannot be reduced in any way, for example, paying utility bills, repaying loans or mortgages, refueling a car, and the like. However, you can save on lunch brought with you, refuse fast food, as well as buying unnecessary things.

At first, most people who decide to properly dispose of their own earned funds face quite serious difficulties. The thing is that long-standing, worked out for years, and sometimes even decades, habits make themselves felt. This is quite normal, and your task is to stay within the framework of the compiled family budget for income and expenses for the month.

• Before you start budgeting and saving, you should definitely create a "safety cushion". It should consist of funds that will be enough for a comfortable existence for at least six months. This will allow you to protect yourself from emergency situations that leave many people penniless.
• Remember why and why you decided to keep a family budget, that is, be sure to follow the set, realistic and achievable goals. The mythical “bright future” is hardly a good motivation for limiting yourself to such cute little things, like drinking tea at the mall with friends or buying another unnecessary gadget.
• All goals that you set for yourself must be material and accurate. For example, I need to save money, not because I want to make some kind of repair sometime, but to save up two hundred thousand for a major overhaul of my home. The second option is much more tangible, isn't it?
• Write down every spending and any income in the family budget, even if they seem insignificant. Everything, up to gifts and winnings, should be taken into account and distributed in the main spending grid, and maybe directed to the formation of a reserve fund.
• Be sure to enlist the support of all family members, and if this is not possible at first, at least agree that they will follow your instructions and will not interfere. There will be no sense if one is saving hard, and the second buys the forty-eighth video game, which will remain gathering dust on the shelf.

Don't be afraid to make your family budget flexible. Everything in the world is changing, and it is no exception. We can earn less or more, have a pet, everyone can suddenly fall ill or suddenly need emergency plumbing repairs. Therefore, there can be no set figures once and for all. The main thing is to comply with the basic requirements, and also make sure that expenses never exceed income, otherwise it will hardly be possible to get out of debt.

Video how to make a family budget for a month

It will not be difficult to develop a budget for a month, the main thing is to show perseverance, and even earlier, to conduct research. To do this, you must first, for one month, write down all your expenses, even the smallest ones. If you still don’t understand something, you should watch the video below, then it will be easier to figure it out.

A financial plan will help you not to be left without money at the most crucial moment.

The main task in drawing up a personal budget is not just to reduce the debit to the credit, but to correctly distribute expenses so that in the last week before the salary you do not have to borrow or live from hand to mouth.

You can plan a budget in special or any tables - the principle is the same.

As a rule, the main part of the salary is not issued on the first day of the month, but on the 5th, 10th or 15th. Therefore, it will be more convenient to plan a budget not for a calendar month, but for a period from paycheck to paycheck, for example, from March 10 to April 9.

Income

First you need to record all financial receipts in order to understand how much you have. All sources of income should be taken into account: salary, bonus, part-time work, money from renting an apartment, and so on. With unstable earnings, it makes sense to form a budget when you know exactly how much you have, for example, on the day the money is received on the card.

Expenses

The first to be entered are the items of expenditure, without which it is impossible to do without. This list will look something like this:

1. Food (including lunches at work if you eat at the cafeteria).
2. Communal payments.
3. Directions.
4. Mobile connection.
5. Internet.
6. Household chemicals.

Naturally, the list of mandatory payments will be different for each person and for each family. Fares can be replaced by the cost of gasoline. People with chronic diseases will take into account spending on medicines. The same list will include loan payments, kindergarten fees, and so on. At the same time, the traditional trip to the cinema on Saturdays and similar items of expenditure are not mandatory.

Make it a rule to put money into a “stabilization fund” every month. It can be a fixed amount or a percentage of income.

With the remaining amount after the deduction of mandatory expenses, the amount can be done in two ways:

1. You allocate money for entertainment, clothes, and various amenities.
2. You divide the remaining amount by the number of days in the month.

With the first method, everything is clear: you determine that you will spend 3,000 rubles on a movie, the same amount on clothes, and so on. The second method is worth considering in more detail.

Let's say you have 15,500 rubles left, and there are 31 days in a month. This means that you can spend 500 rubles a day. At the same time, mandatory expenses are already taken into account in the budget, so this money is calculated only for pleasant expenses or force majeure circumstances. Accordingly, if you spend more than this amount per day, then you go into the red, and at the end of the month you will have to tighten your belt. If you do not spend anything, then within two weeks you will save up 7,000 rubles, which can be spent on something big.

The money remaining at the end of the financial period can be spent or set aside. The first path is pleasant, the second is rational.

How to budget for the year

The annual financial plan will need regular adjustments for both expenses and income, so all columns in it must be created in duplicate: forecast and actual.

Income

If you have a regular income

With a fixed amount of earnings, you simply enter salary and other stable income in the income section. The only thing that will interrupt the usual course of things is vacation pay. Usually, before a vacation, they give out money for the days during which you will rest, but then you will miss some amount in your salary. But in general, at the forecast stage, especially if you are budgeting for the first time, it will be enough to use only the salary for all months.

If you have an unstable income

With irregular income, there are three ways to predict income:

1. You are sure that you will receive a monthly amount sufficient for life, although you do not know its exact amount.

Calculate your average income and use it to calculate. If you earn more than the projected amount in any month, move the excess to the piggy bank. You will get into it if you earn less than average.

2. You don't have a steady income and you're not sure what you will have.

It is better to take the minimum income as the basis for calculations. In this case, budget planning will become a task with an asterisk, but there will be no financial surprises.

3. Part of your income is stable, but the exact amount of earnings is difficult to predict.

For example, you receive a fixed salary, and the availability of a bonus depends on many factors. Then it is worth planning the budget so that a stable income covers all primary needs, and you will spend on the rest according to the situation.

Don't forget to take into account the income that you receive irregularly: quarterly bonus (once every three months), return of the tax deduction (once a year), and so on.

For example, let's take a situation where most of the income is stable - this is a salary. The minimum premium is 3,000 rubles, and we will use this figure in the forecast. We also note that at least 20,000 rubles should be donated for the anniversary in August: parents promised 15,000, friends will probably give at least 5,000.

Expenses

When planning expenses, write down mandatory expenses in the month columns: food, utilities, travel, mobile communications, household chemicals, and so on. Keep in mind that utility bills are higher in winter due to heating, and you will spend more on mobile communications, for example, in May, as you are going on vacation. These changes must be included in the budget.

So, in the example, it can be seen that the heating season ended in March, so the last increased payment for housing and communal services is scheduled for April. Holidays in May are also reflected. The budget maker plans to go to Grandma's for three weeks. Tickets have already been bought, so there is no point in considering this waste. Housing and communal services are considered according to the standards and will not change.

At the same time, our hero will not spend money on travel for three weeks. And he cut his food expenses in half: he will eat at home for a week, and he will also take on part of the expenses for groceries from his grandmother.

The next step is to record obligatory but irregular expenses. Let's say that in May you need to pay tax for an apartment and a car in November, you have a vacation in May, an anniversary in August, and a gym membership ends in December. Separately consider the need to buy gifts for the holidays.

Large expenses can be planned in two ways:

1. Find the entire amount from the monthly budget.
2. Split it up over several months.

The hero of the example used the first method for planning expenses for the anniversary and the second for OSAGO.

It remains to take into account the savings in the budget and calculate the balance. In the entertainment example, according to the forecast, 8,020 rubles remain (258.7 rubles per day).

Budget Adjustment

Every month, after receiving income from all sources, the budget will have to be adjusted in order to determine the amount that is really on hand. As information becomes available, changes in costs should also be taken into account.

The person in the example received a bonus more than he bargained for.

He also spent a little less on food and mobile communications, a little more on housing and communal services. As a result, after all the mandatory deductions, he has 12,535 rubles (404.3 rubles a day) in his hands, which is almost twice the previous result.

It is worth remembering that even if you adhered to a financial plan with all the details taken into account with extreme discipline, circumstances can seriously adjust the budget. Losing a job, getting a raise, and having a baby will all require major changes to your financial strategy. But even a bad budget is better than none at all.

How to plan the right family budget? How to start planning a family budget? Many questions regarding family budget planning. It is not a difficult science that can and should be learned.

Let's look at a simple example, you need to build an enterprise: Which enterprise? Of what? Where to build? How? For what funds? How many employees should be hired for construction? This is a small fraction of the questions you imagine how difficult it is to plan the construction of a huge enterprise or factory.

A family is a small business, in order to properly plan the family budget, you need to correctly approach each figure of income and expenses.

How to plan a family budget

Remember the expenses of the previous two or three months and plan your family budget by analyzing them.

Remember and plan expenses for birthdays in the family, birthdays of relatives, do not forget about the main holidays: New Year, February 23rd, March 8th.

In the summer months, utility bills and gasoline begin to rise in price.

In order not to forget all this, you can draw a small sign for yourself from January to December and indicate the main events and dates there.

When you plan the budget for the new month, look at this plate and make changes.

Components of the family budget

There are six components of happiness, if one component stops working, happiness in the family disappears.

What are included in these six components: income, expenditure (which does not exceed income), own housing, savings or reserve, deposits, joint values ​​​​of husband and wife.

How to manage a family budget

The family budget consists of income and expenses. Income includes: cash income, in-kind income and benefits.

income table

Income example for a family of four

income table

This family consists of four members of the family father, mother and two children. The family's income is the father's salary of 35,000 rubles and the mother's salary of 15,000 rubles, one child goes to kindergarten, the second child goes to school. The total family income is 50,000 rubles. This family has no additional sources of income.

Income is spent on necessary goods and services for the whole family. After receiving the money, incomes turn into expenses.

Expenses include all expenses spent on the family for certain period time, such as a month.

How to allocate the family budget

It is very important to distribute the family budget for a month so that it is enough for all expenses and that it does not exceed income.

There are two types of expenses: mandatory and optional.

Cost table

Consider the expenses of a family of four

Cost table

This family consists of four members of the family father, mother and two children. Family expenses are included in the table.

Put your income and expenses on the scale

Example one:

Income 50,000 rubles Expenses 50,000 rubles

Your family's budget, your balanced income is equal to your expenses.

Second example:

Income 50,000 rubles Expenses 60,000 rubles

You have a budget deficit in your family, you do not have enough money, you need to reconsider the items in the family budget.

Example three:

Income 50,000 rubles Expenses 40,000 rubles

Your income exceeds expenses, you get an excess of cash or savings for future expenses.

The main point of preparing a family budget is to learn how to balance incoming income and outgoing expenses. We must learn how to draw up a family budget so that expenses are always less than income.

Family budget for a month

An example of a budget for an average family with two children

Let's analyze the family budget table for an average family consisting of four people, two of them are children, we see that the family income is 50,000 rubles. The family has no additional sources of income.

The amount of expenses corresponds to the amount of income and is equal to 50,000 rubles. The costs include all necessary cost items:

public utilities;

fare;

• payment for kindergarten;

  clothes, shoes;

  child's education;

  medicines;

Pay attention to the most important article, it is called cumulative.

In each family, when planning the family budget, first of all, it is necessary to take into account that expenses are less than income, and include an item in expenses and plan money there, this item is called a funded item.

This expense item should be 20% of your salary as a percentage, if you can’t save 20% the first time, start with 10% and review your expenses again.

It is very good if you have more than 20% deposited in the collection point, it can be 30%, 40% and even 50%.

The funded part can be accumulated and spent on holidays, on large household appliances, on winter and autumn clothes, and so on.

The remaining costs may vary in amount, some item or item of costs may be more than presented in the table, some may be less.

Savings from maintaining a family budget

Considering the presented family budget for a month, for a family of four we received an income of 50,000 rubles and an expense of 40,000 rubles, from this we get a saving of 10,000 rubles a month. You can use this savings to buy large household appliances, winter clothes and shoes, and go on vacation with the whole family.

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Many people say that money is like water - it quickly flows away to nowhere. If you can’t remember what you spent an impressive amount on, it’s not clear where your salary goes and why it ends in just two weeks, you can’t save up for the desired thing or vacation, it’s time to carefully calculate your income and expenses. Planning a family budget is the first step towards fulfilling your material desires.

Household bookkeeping: the first stage - income

Each family builds its material well-being according to its own scenario: someone seeks to earn more, someone insists that all family members follow the principles of reasonable spending. The main thing is not to go to extremes, but to find your right path. This issue becomes especially relevant in the family with the advent of children, when family expenses increase significantly. There are several methods on how to plan a family budget, what principles to follow.

The first step in any of these methods is to determine the items of income and expenses of the family. Income should include:

• wages;
• social payments;
• income from bank deposits, from renting an apartment;
• part-time job;
• cash gifts.

It is clear that the first 3 positions are constant, the amounts of these incomes are known, and it is from them that the basis of the income part of the family budget will be formed. Part-time work and cash gifts may or may not be, so you should not rely on them, but use them as bonuses for pleasant spending.

The second stage - expenses

The second stage is the calculation of spending in various areas. Few people will be able to immediately tell how much and on what they spend, so it is important to keep track of your expenses for at least a month or two, even on trifles. Then it will become clear how much the family spends and on what. How to keep an account? Personal finance experts recommend writing down all daily expenses: food, travel, entertainment.

Costs, like income, can be divided into several broad categories:

• obligatory payments;
• food and travel expenses;
• spending on updating the wardrobe;
• spending on entertainment, recreation;
• unforeseen expenses for treatment, repairs, etc.

Mandatory payments include:

• utilities;
• payment for mobile communications, the Internet;
• insurance;
• payment for circles, sections, additional classes for children.

Food expenses should also be divided into categories:

• dairy products;
• cereals;
• meat, fish, poultry;
• vegetables;
• fruits;
• sweets, juices, pastries, etc.

In the first months of maintaining a family budget, experts recommend making a table and advise you to write down all the costs of food, down to the smallest detail. Sometimes, from such trifles as buying 200 grams of sweets, cookies, a cup of coffee, significant amounts are accumulated in a week and a month. All family members need to learn how to remember and write down their expenses, so that later they can correctly plan the family budget.

Stage three: comparison of income and expenses

Having calculated income, it is necessary to compare them with expenses. Most often, for people who are interested in family budget planning methods, the difference between income and expenses is zero or they go into the minus. Therefore, they need to learn how to keep track of expenses and correctly draw up a plan for spending the family budget.

There are different methods and ways to properly plan a family budget for a month so that there is enough money for all planned expenses and still manage to save for the desired purchases or travel.

Method "10-20%"

One of the ways to rationally organize the spending of the family budget is called "10 percent". It consists in setting aside at least 10% of the total income every month. Personal finance experts advise you to immediately determine for what purposes you plan to spend these funds: a major purchase, a trip, a vacation. This will serve as an additional motivation not to spend the deferred funds, but to increase them and achieve the desired. In addition, this money will be a "financial cushion" in case of unforeseen circumstances.

This method has proven itself in cases where wages are transferred to family members on a card account. It is recommended to make an additional bank card and arrange an automatic transfer to it of 10 or 20% of the amount received on the day the funds are credited. It is better to keep an additional card at home to avoid the temptation to spend money from it.

The rule of "seven envelopes"

In the personal finance forums, many experts speak positively about the application of the "rule of 7 envelopes" and give advice on how to properly use this method of planning a family budget.

The rule of "7 envelopes" is to immediately distribute the amount of income into 7 envelopes on the day of receipt of salary according to the main items of expenditure:

• obligatory payments;
• expenses for children;
• funds for food;
• money to buy things, furniture, household appliances;
• money for family vacations, entertainment, vacations;
• savings;
• "joy" - the money left over from the previous month after mandatory spending.

1. In the first envelope - "mandatory payments" - the amount of money necessary to pay utility bills, mobile communications, the Internet, and repay the loan taken is set aside. The amount of these expenses is more or less stable, but even here there is an opportunity to save a little by installing meters and reasonably reducing the consumption of electricity, gas, and water.
2. The second envelope contains money provided for the maintenance of children: payment for kindergarten, school fees, circles, sections, tutors. It is also necessary to provide money for the purchase of children's clothes, shoes, toys, etc. You can reduce family budget spending on this item by taking advantage of sales in chain stores, on Internet sites, and the services of intermediaries in groups of joint purchases.
3. The third is funds for food. You can understand how much a family needs for a month using the method of calculating expenses for 1-3 months. In today's conditions, at least 30-50% of the family budget is spent on food, these expenses must be strictly controlled, because there are many temptations to spend money on all sorts of "sweets" and go beyond the budget. To save money, experienced housewives advise using various promotions that are held in stores, you can find out about them in advance on specialized sites. Buying several packs of high-quality tea and coffee at a promotion will reduce spending on these products next month.
4. Fourth - "things": clothes, shoes for adult family members, household appliances, furniture, interior items. It is recommended that you calculate a monthly rough plan for purchasing these items, based on the total family income, their cost and the need for the family.
5. In the fifth envelope, they save money for family entertainment and recreation. The amount may vary depending on the availability of family members' birthdays in a particular month, planned trips to leisure centers, pizzerias, restaurants.
6. The sixth is "accumulation". It should set aside a certain percentage of the amount of income, but not less than 10%. This money is an emergency reserve, if you suddenly need to take some amount from this envelope, you should replenish it as soon as possible. Savings can be used to purchase some major purchase.
7. The seventh envelope is "joy". This is the money left over from mandatory spending from the previous month. They can be spent on nice gifts for family and friends.

The "7 envelopes" system works only if you strictly adhere to the limits of the allocated amounts for certain needs and never take money for the allocated categories of expenses from other envelopes.

Method "4 envelopes"

This method is similar to the previous one, it also relies on the compilation of a table of expenses and the organization of their management. Having received a salary, it is recommended to immediately set aside funds to pay mandatory payments and bills. After that, the remaining amount should be divided into 4 envelopes by the number of weeks in a month (in the last envelope you need to put an amount one third higher than the rest in order to live on this money not 7, but 9-10 days).

The main rule of "4 envelopes" is to manage only the money that is allocated for the week, try not to take funds from other envelopes. If there are unspent funds left at the end of the week, they can be spent on family entertainment, vacations, or gifts.

How to effectively manage the family budget?

The planning of the family budget provides for a clear understanding of the main directions of its distribution and strict control of all expenses. You can plan a family budget, keep records of income and expenses, both in the old fashioned way - in a specially allocated notebook, writing everything down manually, or using modern computer technology.

The easiest way to create a family budget table is in Microsoft Excel. In one half of the sheet, you can write down all family incomes, and in the other, fix current expenses. At the end of each week, you need to beat the total amount of expenses, and at the end of the month - analyze what the funds were spent on and how these expenses can be reduced. In such a table, you can clearly see how much money is spent on sweets, other “sweets”, and how much is spent on healthy food.

When planning a family budget, you should adhere to the following rules:

• no credit cards, unexpected loans and debts;
• a clear understanding by all family members of what the family budget is planned for;
• reasonable distribution and accumulation of money: everyone needs motivation, one should not save money for the sake of money itself, it is necessary to clearly set a goal - to rest, to buy a car, computer, other expensive things;
• it is necessary to develop the habit of setting aside 10-20% of permanent earnings, as well as windfall income as a family reserve fund;
• it is necessary to plan incomes and expenses, based on the realities of today's family life;
• at the end of a certain period of life in the context of family budget planning (six months, a year), you need to please the family with some surprises: buying an unplanned thing, interesting entertainment;
• you need to plan a budget monthly and stably, only then it will be beneficial.

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Almost every married couple is faced with the problem of lack of money, sometimes there is not even enough money to live up to the salary. Why is this happening? There is only one reason - there is no family budget planning. Many do not take this into account, and therefore face a number of unpleasant problems. It is very important to be able to correctly calculate your income and expenses - this will help you save on unnecessary purchases and collect some money, for example, for vacations abroad or to buy your own home, car.

Why you need to plan a family budget and what it gives

Every family can achieve financial freedom and independence if they learn to spend money “wisely”. Family budget planning has a number of significant advantages.

• Control. Husband and wife will always know exactly when and what the money was spent on. There will be no more questions about where the entire salary disappeared a week after the payday.
• Conscious actions. By planning the budget for several months, a clear picture of income and expenses emerges. Thus, it will be possible to identify unnecessary waste and minimize them.
• No debt. Avoiding loans and other debt obligations is not difficult.
• Planning for big purchases. Planning a budget and saving on unnecessary expenses will help save some money in order to go on vacation during your vacation. It is possible that accounting for income and expenses will lead to larger acquisitions - a car or your own home.
• "Black Day". No one knows around which turn trouble will await. It is possible that you will have to quit your job, having money set aside, you will not have to worry about living until a new job.
• Discipline. Family budget planning disciplines. This applies not only to unnecessary costs, but also to life situations that a person faces every day.

Important! Do not turn family budget planning into saving on everything. It is necessary to allocate funds for entertainment and pleasant little things, otherwise life will turn into a routine that does not please at all.

Basic rules for planning a family budget

By following simple rules, you can very quickly learn to increase the difference between income and expenses, saving this money for more significant needs.

Step by step planning

1. It is necessary to write down the total family income in a notebook every month. Everything must be contributed here - salary, additional earnings.
2. After the total amount of cash receipts has been calculated, it is necessary to record all mandatory costs. This is paying utility bills, kindergarten (school), buying food, car maintenance, do not forget to allocate a small amount for leisure.
3. From the amount of income, you now need to subtract the total amount of necessary expenses received.
4. Next, you need to think about what to do with the rest. You can't spend everything at once. It would be best to divide the remainder into two parts. It is desirable to postpone one for a “rainy day”, put the other in another place for unforeseen expenses.

Mistakes of married couples when planning a budget

Many married couples make trivial mistakes when planning their budget, as a result of which they face financial difficulties long before the next salary.

1. You can't solve problems "as they come". If expenses are planned, money should be set aside a little in advance.
2. Financial decisions cannot be made by just one person.
3. You can not radically cut costs, cut your leisure time.
4. You can’t keep silent about financial problems, they need to be discussed and a way out of the situation should be sought with your spouse.

How to reduce your expenses

There is a simple way to help reduce family expenses.

If the couple has set a clear goal - to raise a certain amount of money for a large purchase, then you need to follow the plan. Every month you can set aside 10% of the amount from your salary, the same percentage is deferred from any cash receipts, even if they are insignificant. It seems like a trifle, but over time an impressive budget is collected.

1. You need to keep track of expenses and income every month, taking into account all the little things, only in this way it will be possible to get a complete picture of the budget and determine unnecessary waste.
2. Drop "dreams". No need to promise yourself to raise a million, goals should be achievable.
3. It is important that both spouses contribute to budget planning, otherwise it will not work to cut costs.
4. You can open a savings account at the bank and put all the money saved there.

Family budget planning is not savings, but a real chance to reduce the list of "empty" expenses, learn how to properly use the funds received and direct them in the right direction.