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I
have to be honest, I am terrible at budgeting money
(just ask my husband) I would much rather spend than
save! But, I know that budgets are wise and I certainly
see the benefits of budgeting money (my husband is now
in charge of that). Below are some tips on how to get
your household budget under control (or how to start
one if you don’t have a budget).
A.
Add-up your monthly income. Only count your
regular income, no bonuses or overtime.
B.
List your monthly expenses. Be sure to add
your fixed costs (mortgage, rent, car payment) and
your variable costs (groceries, clothes, gifts). Variable
costs can be hard to track sometimes, use your checkbook
register, bank statement and credit card statements
to help you determine these. For the next week start
tracking your cash expenses. In my husbands family
each member would write down what they spent and what
it was for (EX. Whopper and a Coke-$3.25), this list
was then hung on the kitchen fridge. Tracking your
cash will help you to see where your money really
goes and will help you to determine where you can
or need to cut back.
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Once you have determined your costs: Add up the
total amount each bill will costs for the whole year
(ie. Your car insurance is $400 every 6 months = $800
a year), once you have determined that number for all
of your expenses, divide each expense by 12. This will
tell you how much you need to set aside each month to
pay that bill. See table below for example:
Expense |
Amount |
Frequency |
Yearly |
Monthly |
| Tithing |
$162.50 |
2
x Month |
$3,900.00 |
$325.00 |
| Rent |
$681.04 |
Monthly |
$8,172.48 |
$681.04 |
| Car
Insurance |
$600.00 |
Every
6 Mo. |
$1,200.00 |
$100.00 |
| Gifts |
$25/person |
At
least 1/Mo. |
$300.00 |
$25.00 |
| Groceries |
$207.00 |
Monthly |
$2,491.08 |
$207.00 |
| Meals
Out |
$20.00 |
Weekly |
$1,040.00 |
$86.66 |
C. Deduct your expenses from
your income. If you are
good at managing your money then you should break
even or have some left over. If your expenses exceed
your income then you need to reevaluate your variable
expenses. In the case of the table above, perhaps
$10.00 a week for meals out would be a solution. Don’t
try to live a lifestyle that you cannot afford by
using credit cards or cash advances.
D.
Adjust your budget, to
make sure that your expenses do not exceed your income.
If you find yourself with a little left over each
month, SAVE IT!!! If you are like me and you need
goals for savings then set them. I can’t seem to save
for the sake of saving; I have to tell myself I am
saving for a vacation, a house, a new camera, whatever
it takes. Since my husband and I are young, we still
have a lot of things to save for.
Monitor
your spending and income every month and make adjustments
when necessary (raises, rent increases etc.)
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| If
you are anything like my husband and me, a lot of your
money goes to food! I found a great site that lets
readers share tips for saving money at the grocery store,
check it out
HERE. We at Mormonchic would love to know what
tips YOU have for saving money, whether it be at the grocery
store, the mall, or the auto-mechanic, let us know HERE. |
