Are you in charge of the family budget? Do you make plans and still have problems executing them? Well, news for you, there are many families having the same issues.
With a little work you can devise and execute an excellent budget plan.
Have a vision of your family budget.
Talk to your spouse and children about the costs involved day to day and week after week, such as repayments of the car, mortgage, credit cards, school fees, pet bills etc, basically everything that costs money and then discuss intended financial projects such as a new car, university fees, holidays and more.
Be honest about it because fooling oneself will only create more financial stress.
Make sure you include what you intend to save for a family emergency fund as well.
It is important that your family also understands your collective financial situation.
This will help them to change their attitude when it comes to spending money, and it will help you to plan effectively for a budget that must be respected by each member of your family.
The other thing to do is to compose a list of every reoccurring item you purchase every week.
Prioritize; do you really need them each week? Can you do with once every second week? Involve your children; do they really need their requested item one a week or can it wait? You will be surprised by how much you can save by suppressing the little items that you thought cheap.
Every cent adds up, and I am sure you have heard that before!! If your children are constantly requesting money, even spare change or a few coins here and there, it is time for them to learn to budget.
Give them a weekly allowance (and no more) and teach them how to budget, so it will last until their "next pay day".
One day they will thank you for it.
OK, once you have calculated and sorted exactly what your weekly expenditure is, as well as calculating unexpected expenditure into the budget, that is it, put a cap on it right away.
Write the maximum amount in a diary and deduct every day's expenditure as you go through the week.
Be honest, don't lie.
In fact give yourself a couple of weeks to adjust.
You may find that you have omitted something, so adjust the fixed amount accordingly.
You may have calculated too high! That is great, more savings for future expenditure.
By putting this limitation on your spending, you are forced to prioritize and respect the exact necessary spending.
Now that cooking and amateur chefs are very high profile these days make your home dining more interesting.
Follow some of the healthy, nutritious and economical recipes that have become part of everyday television viewing or get the cook books out and try new or even tried and true recipes.
How often do you eat out? Did you know you have your own restaurant at home? Create a nice enjoyable ambiance, music and candles, enjoy your family home rather than spending in an overpriced restaurant for something that you could have cooked even better yourself.
A good contribution from your children would be to clean up and wash the dishes! Another easy saving is the extra take away coffees purchased.
It may not seem much but do you really need it? really? have coffee at home, you will be surprise how quick you will get used to have one coffee per day.
Do you buy your lunch? if you do, cook a little more of that lovely diner so you can enjoy it again the next day and reduce the wastage at home, do not throw your money or your food in the trash.
Finally, how much money does your car cost in petrol? You could walk instead of driving everywhere, particularly if it to go just a few 100 meters or so.
The extra bonus of this of course is an increase in fitness levels, which could save the Gym Fees that you may have invested in after a particularly celebratory Christmas and New Year.
These are often withdrawn automatically from your credit card and the Gym itself is only frequented occasionally.
Group your car usage activities together, so you can do one trip rather than constant driving back and forth.
This will not only save petrol and money, but precious time too.
Remember EVERY CENT COUNTS to more saving and more financial freedom.