How to make a family budget. How to manage a family budget

The problem of lack of money is relevant for most modern families. Many literally dream of paying off their debts and starting a new financial life. In a crisis, the burden of low wages, loans and debts affects almost all families without exception. That is why people strive to control their spending. The point of saving costs is not that people are greedy, but to find financial stability and look at your budget soberly and impartially.

The benefit of controlling the financial flow is obvious - it is cost reduction. The more you save, the more confidence in the future. The money saved can be used to form a financial cushion that will allow you to feel comfortable for a while, for example, if you are left without a job.

The main enemy in the way of financial control is laziness. People first light up with the idea of ​​controlling the family budget, and then quickly cool down and lose interest in their finances. To avoid this effect, you need to acquire a new habit - to constantly control your expenses. The most difficult period is the first month. Then the control becomes a habit, and you continue to act automatically. In addition, you will immediately see the fruits of your “labor” - your expenses will be surprisingly reduced. You will personally see that some expenses were superfluous and you can refuse them without harm to the family.

Accounting for family expenses and income in an Excel spreadsheet

If you are new to family budgeting, then before using powerful and paid home bookkeeping tools, try keeping a family budget in a simple Excel spreadsheet. The benefits of such a solution are obvious - you do not spend money on programs, and try your hand at controlling finances. On the other hand, if you bought the program, then this will stimulate you - since you spent the money, then you need to keep records.

It is better to start compiling a family budget in a simple table in which everything is clear to you. Over time, you can complicate and supplement it.

Read also:

Here we see three sections: income, expenses and report. In the "expenses" section, we have entered the above categories. Near each category is a cell containing the total expense for the month (the sum of all days on the right). In the "days of the month" area, daily expenses are entered. In fact, this is a complete monthly report on the expenses of your family budget. This table gives the following information: expenses for each day, for each week, for a month, as well as the total expenses for each category.

As for the formulas that are used in this table, they are very simple. For example, the total expense for the category "car" is calculated by the formula =SUM(F14:AJ14). That is, this is the amount for all days on line number 14. The amount of expenses per day is calculated as follows: =SUM(F14:F25)- all numbers in column F from the 14th to the 25th line are summed up.

The section "income" is arranged in a similar way. This table has categories of budget revenues and the amount that corresponds to it. In the "total" cell, the sum of all categories ( =SUM(E5:E8)) in column E from the 5th to the 8th line. The "report" section is even simpler. Here, information from cells E9 and F28 is duplicated. The balance (income minus expenses) is the difference between these cells.

Now let's complicate our expense table. Let's introduce new columns "expenditure plan" and "deviation" (download the table of expenses and incomes). This is necessary for more accurate planning of the family budget. For example, you know that the cost of a car is usually 5,000 rubles / month, and the rent is 3,000 rubles / month. If we know the costs in advance, then we can make a budget for a month or even a year.

Knowing your monthly expenses and income, you can plan large purchases. For example, family income is 70,000 rubles / month, and expenses are 50,000 rubles / month. This means that every month you can save 20,000 rubles. And in a year you will be the owner of a large amount - 240,000 rubles.

Thus, the columns "expenditure plan" and "variance" are needed for long-term budget planning. If the value in the "deviation" column is negative (highlighted in red), then you deviated from the plan. Deviation is calculated by the formula =F14-E14(i.e. the difference between the plan and the actual costs per category).

What if you deviate from the plan in any month? If the deviation is insignificant, then next month you should try to save on this category. For example, in our table in the category "clothing and cosmetics" there is a deviation of -3950 rubles. This means that next month it is advisable to spend 2050 rubles (6000 minus 3950) on this group of goods. Then, on average, for two months you will not have a deviation from the plan: (2050 + 9950) / 2 = 12000 / 2 = 6000.

Using our data from the expense table, we will build a cost report in the form of a chart.

Similarly, we build a report on the income of the family budget.

The benefits of these reports are clear. Firstly, we get a visual representation of the budget, and secondly, we can track the percentage share of each category. In our case, the most expensive items are “clothes and cosmetics” (19%), “food” (15%) and “credit” (15%).

Excel has ready-made templates that allow you to create the necessary tables in two clicks. If you go to the "File" menu and select "Create", the program will prompt you to create finished project based on existing templates. Our topic includes the following templates: “Typical family budget”, “ Family budget(monthly)", "Simple Expenses Budget", "Personal Budget", "Half Monthly Home Budget", "Student Monthly Budget", "Personal Expenses Calculator".

A selection of free Excel budgeting templates

Ready-made Excel spreadsheets can be downloaded for free from these links:

The first two tables are discussed in this article. The third table is described in detail in the article about home accounting. The fourth collection is an archive containing standard templates from an Excel spreadsheet.

Try downloading and working with each table. After reviewing all the templates, you are sure to find a table that is right for your family budget.

Excel Spreadsheets vs. Home Bookkeeping: Which Should You Choose?

Each method of doing home accounting has its own advantages and disadvantages. If you have never done home accounting and have poor computer skills, then it is better to start accounting for finances using a regular notebook. Enter it in free form all expenses and incomes, and at the end of the month you take a calculator and reduce the debit with the credit.

If the level of your knowledge allows you to use an Excel spreadsheet or a similar program, then feel free to download templates for home budget tables and start accounting electronically.

When the functionality of the tables no longer suits you, you can use specialized programs. Start with the simplest personal accounting software, and only then, when you get real experience, you can purchase a full-fledged program for a PC or smartphone. For more information about financial accounting programs, see the following articles:

The advantages of using Excel spreadsheets are obvious. This is a simple, clear and free solution. It is also possible to gain additional skills in working with a spreadsheet processor. The disadvantages include low performance, poor visibility, as well as limited functionality.

Specialized family budget management programs have only one drawback - almost all normal software is paid. Only one question is relevant here - which program is the highest quality and cheapest? The advantages of the programs are: high speed, visual presentation of data, many reports, technical support from the developer, free updates.

If you want to try your hand at family budget planning, but are not ready to pay money, then download it for free and get down to business. If you already have experience in home accounting and want to use more advanced tools, then we recommend installing a simple and inexpensive program called Housekeeper. Consider the basics of personal accounting with the help of "Housekeeper".

Household bookkeeping in the program "Economy"

A detailed description of the program can be found on this page. The functionality of the Housekeeper is simple: there are two main sections: income and expenses.

The section "Incomes" is arranged in a similar way. User accounts are configured in the "Users" section. You can add any number of accounts in different currencies. For example, one account can be in rubles, the second in dollars, the third in Euros, etc. The principle of the program is simple - when you add expenditure transaction, then the money is debited from the selected account, and when profitable, then the money, on the contrary, is credited to the account.

To build a report, you need to select the type of report in the "Reports" section, specify the time interval (if necessary) and click the "Build" button.

As you can see, everything is simple! The program will independently build reports and point you to the most costly items of expenditure. Using reports and a table of expenses, you will be able to manage your family budget more efficiently.

Video on the topic of the family budget in Excel

On the Internet, there are many videos on family budgeting. The main thing is that you not only watch, read and listen, but also apply the acquired knowledge in practice. By controlling your budget, you reduce unnecessary expenses and increase savings.

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Hello dear readers of our site. Today we will tell you about the family budget, or rather, how to manage it, how to calculate the family budget for a month, and much more. The family budget is the family's income and expenses for a certain period of time, for example, for one month. There are several family budget management methods that will ensure a reasonable distribution of finances and allow you not only not to get into debt, but also save up to 20% wages.

Family Budget Types - Planning

When planning a budget, you need to take into account its type, which is inherent in your family. Decide which one you will have: separate, shared or mixed . Discuss the priorities of each of the spouses (education, investments, loans, starting your own business) and only after that start planning the family budget.

Separated

A separate family budget has gained particular popularity abroad, but in our country, many families practice a similar method of distribution. financial resources. A separate budget is usually preferred by wealthy and successful people, when a certain amount is allocated for housekeeping, each of the spouses spends the remaining money on personal needs.

Advantages:

  • can be saved for personal account a significant amount;
  • fewer reasons for quarrels in the family;
  • no family litigation in case of divorce.

Flaws:

  • if there are children, then a separate family budget will not work: it’s strange for a son to chip in for sneakers or a typewriter;
  • for people who represent life in the family as a joint activity, such relationships will also not work - it will be difficult for them to understand how it is possible to have something apart from the common interests of the family;
  • It is impossible to turn family relations into exclusively business ones.

Mixed

A mixed type of family budget implies the allocation, for example, of 80% of the salary of a wife and husband for housekeeping, and each spends the rest on himself. If the spouses managed to save up for an expensive thing or unforeseen circumstances arose, then the rules change. You can take money from the general cash desk when you need it.

Advantages:

  • an honest approach to those who have lower incomes;
  • each of the spouses has personal funds, and there is no need to ask for money;
  • a similar approach to money says that the relationship of the spouses is well-established and mature.

Flaws:

  • maintaining a mixed family budget is not suitable if only one of the spouses works;
  • neither the husband nor the wife has a desire to take responsibility for the common money;
  • one of the spouses is silent about part of the income.

General

The most widespread is the general type, in which both spouses bring all the money received to the family, and then decide where to spend it.

Advantages:

  • speaks of a trusting relationship between husband and wife;
  • a spouse who does not work or receives a lower salary does not feel inferior;
  • you can make large acquisitions, since two salaries are usually a significant amount.

Flaws:

  • not suitable for families where one of the spouses can deny himself everything in order to buy a TV, and the other can buy something for himself without hesitation;
  • a husband or wife does not tolerate the lack of personal money;
  • This type of budget is not recommended for families where one of the spouses is pathologically greedy or leads an ascetic lifestyle and is little interested in the needs and desires of the other spouse.

What to consider when planning a family budget

Starting to draw up a family budget for a month, analyze income and expenses for previous months. To do this, you need to start keeping a record of funds in advance. With such data in hand, planning expenses will not cause difficulties.

Main components of the family budget:

  • income of husband and wife (salary, social benefits, pension, part-time jobs);
  • expenses (mandatory, for children, family, personal);
  • reserve fund (“financial safety cushion”);
  • investments.

Income

The income of the general family budget includes the wages of the wife and husband. If earnings are unstable, then it is reasonable to save some money, forming a "safety cushion" in case of a small income. In the month where a large amount enters the family budget, set aside 20% or more, if possible.

Expenses

When calculating expenses, take into account income, they must necessarily correspond to each other. If you break this rule, then debts will inevitably appear.

Tips for reducing costs:

  1. Buy less. This will save not only money, but also time. If you buy less food, then the amount of expired food thrown away will decrease, and sometimes there will be nothing to throw away. A pre-compiled shopping list will help protect yourself from spontaneous purchases.

Ignore the advice of psychologists to go shopping to cheer up, as well as advertising. The mood will always be good if there is money in the wallet, unplanned shopping will only contribute to a momentary and short-term improvement in mood. At first it will be difficult to change habits, but over time everything will return to normal.

  1. Buy cheaper. Usually things and food bought under the influence of advertising are expensive. For example, buying an expensive mobile phone, only because it was well advertised and considered a prestigious item. Sometimes the own products produced by large supermarkets are in no way inferior to other more advertised brands. Control your desires, look for more financially profitable options, learn to bargain.
  2. Analyze. By carefully recording your expenses and analyzing them, you can find out where most of the money goes. When making purchases, you will not notice many nuances, they will emerge only when analyzing the purchases made. This approach will allow you to control costs.
  3. Avoid unnecessary expenses. For example, while cooking, take care of your clothes, you can change everyday outfits to home or put on an apron. Prolonging the life of shoes will allow caring for them: use creams, sprays, varnishes, clean them in a timely manner.
  4. Use cash. It is psychologically easier to part with non-cash money than to count cash.

Own housing

If you don’t have your own house or apartment, then it’s worth including the column “accumulation of money for your own housing” in the family budget. Living with parents creates conditions for additional conflicts and does not allow you to build a family life on your own, therefore it is not very convenient.

Reserve part or "financial safety cushion"

This part of the family budget includes finances that may come in handy in case of unforeseen circumstances. There must be a reserve of funds that will allow the family to live for several months if one of the spouses loses his job. A reserve fund is also used to buy or repair broken household appliances (for example, a washing machine).

Investments

This is part of the family budget that will generate passive income. This is a bank deposit, real estate, shares.

The wisest thing is to get rid of debts and loans as quickly as possible, as they negatively affect the psychological state. Try to accumulate investments in order to receive passive income in the future, the family budget will greatly benefit from this.

Family budgeting methods

One of the simple but very effective methods managing the family budget - divide it into three main parts:

  • 50% of income is spent on paying for utilities, housing, food;
  • 30% is spent on entertainment and other optional expenses;
  • 20% go to pay off loans and debts or set aside as savings.

One version of this methodology provides for 20% of income to be spent on the formation of a financial "airbag" and debt repayment, and 80% - for other needs. There are other methods of maintaining a family budget, the most popular are “Accurate Cost Management” and “Four Envelopes”.

Accurate cost management

Maintaining a family budget using this technique involves carefully recording every penny spent. It will require time and effort, which will more than pay off with significant financial savings (up to 20% of income). Few are able to record every purchase, including food, but you have to do this daily, for which it is better to use an Excel spreadsheet.

Create a spreadsheet in Excel where you divide your expenses into 5 columns. First, write down utility bills (electricity, internet, rental housing). The second - the purchase of food, the third - the payment of personal needs, the fourth - spending on entertainment, the fifth - unforeseen expenses. In the evening, enter the amount spent in each of the columns (if there were any expenses) and at the end of the month you will see the real expenses. This will allow you to approach the distribution of money more thoughtfully.

You can add other columns by adapting the table for yourself, for example, household chemicals, pet care, child care, parents. The main thing is not to forget to record every little thing and you will understand how to distribute the family budget more reasonably.

The most popular family budgeting table.

The technique is suitable for those who are not able to write down every penny spent. As soon as the salary is received, immediately set aside 20% - this will be savings. Pay public utilities, and divide the remaining money into 4 equal parts and put in envelopes. Each of these will make up your weekly budget. If the week is over, and there is money left in the envelope, you can spend it on yourself or save it.

This technique is good because it does not require painstaking accounting of costs. As soon as you start spending money wisely, the desire for spontaneous acquisitions will disappear.

A table of family budget expenditures cannot be compiled at once. It will be necessary to thoroughly find out what the money is spent on. This will take 1-2 months. The best option- make a table in MSExcel, this will allow you to make detailed explanations for each document, since the program includes several interconnected plates.

How to make a family budget in Excel

With a general family budget, the income and expenses of the family budget are meticulously entered into the table every day, and first you need to fill in the “income” columns. Then the obligatory expenses are planned:

  • return of debts;
  • creation of reserves (savings);
  • the formation of family capital.

The next step is planning for current expenses:

  • general (for children, variables, permanent);
  • personal expenses of husband and wife.

Here you can also add the column "unforeseen expenses", which can be no more than 10% of the amount of income.

Expenses in the family budget are very diverse, and for the sake of completeness, it is desirable to describe them in as much detail as possible. First, write down the expenses, and then divide them into subtypes. Usually they are repeated monthly, so you will only need to change the numbers, you will not have to re-enter the “header” of the table. Set in the column "Total" and "Deviations" automatic calculation of the amount.

Separate budget

In this case, divide the family budget table into two tables: the personal budget of each spouse, where you indicate the income of each spouse separately. The general part should include expenses for the needs of the family, the maintenance of children and personal expenses.

Mixed type of family budget

First, form the personal expenses separately for each of the spouses. It can be a percentage of the family income or the husband and wife's own income. Distribute the rest for the needs of the family.

Services and programs for convenient planning and management of the family budget

  • There are programs for home accounting, for example, AlzexPersonalFinance, which is based on the division into categories of income and expenses. This makes it possible to see where the money was spent without studying and analyzing reports. The program can be downloaded to a USB flash drive, installed on any external drive and always have a version for a tablet or mobile phone with you.

There are two versions of AlzexPersonalFinance:

  1. Personal- designed for a single user, additional options may not be available.
  2. a commercial- designed for one user, while there is access to all program options (restriction of access rights, user accounts, events, contractors, tasks).

AlzexPersonalFinance has a wide range of possibilities and an unlimited nesting of a tree-like system of categories, there are a large number of labels for each transaction. Loans and debts are recorded, financial goals are tracked and expenses are controlled. Reports can be presented in graphical form and printed. It is possible to organize a transaction by days in a calendar.

  • AlzexPersonalFinance program

Using this program, you will not only understand how to keep a family budget, but you will do it as reasonably as possible.

Another program for managing the family budget is called Housekeeper, the developer is AmoSoft. The software will allow you to financial position stable and control spending. Distinctive features - a simple, intuitive interface, "Housekeeper" can be used even by people who are far from accounting and computers.

Spend a few minutes daily entering data and at the end of the month you will see the most complete picture of the state of finances in the family. Reports are provided in graphical form, which allows you to visually see the strengths and weaknesses of the family budget.

The program will tell you how to save the family budget by preventing rash spending.

  • "Home Finance"- the program combines flexibility and reliability in organizing the movement of family money.

The interface is thoughtful and simple, intuitive even for not very experienced users. The program will allow you to detect weaknesses in the family or personal budget, as well as organize the optimal flow of funds.

  • "Home Bookkeeping"

The program is easy to use, while in it you will find all the necessary functions:

  1. profit and loss accounting;
  2. payment planning;
  3. debt accounting;
  4. account control;
  5. exchange rates.

The only disadvantage of "Home Bookkeeping" is that you will have to pay 500 rubles for using it.

  • MoneyTracker

MoneyTracker is designed for accounting, it is convenient to use it, but you will need to tinker and figure out what's what, since the program has a lot of functions. A distinctive feature of the program is the ability to control price changes in stores, which allows you to make a budget forecast for months or a year. There is a utility that shows how much you spend (green indicator - everything is fine, red indicates that the family budget is in danger).

  • DomFin

The DomFin program can be used for free, the interface is primitive: the functions for accounting are clearly and specifically set. It is intuitively clear where to record expenses and where income should be recorded.

  • AceMoney

You will have to pay 500 rubles for using the program. In the free version, you can use only one account, which is inconvenient. The negative point is that there is only one operation in AceMoney: a transaction, you will not find “income” and “expenses” departments.

Advantages of AceMoney:

  • you can keep records of securities and shares;
  • there are templates according to which you can distribute expenses (utility payments, food), you don’t have to do them yourself;
  • you can monitor the status of your bank accounts (for example, at what percentage the money lies).

To choose the best program for your own needs, you need to clearly understand the goal you want to achieve. Also, the program should be selected taking into account the characteristics of a particular family budget. For some, certain functions are completely useless and will never be needed.

  1. Don't forget the reason why you decided to start family budget planning. This is not because it is necessary or someone said, but in order, for example, to reduce spending.
  2. Clearly define for yourself the ultimate goal of your actions. For example, by the end of the year, save up for a car.
  3. Accounting for income and expenses must be very accurate and thorough.
  4. Consider ways to form a "financial safety cushion" for the family.
  5. Set aside money on deposit accounts in a bank without the possibility of withdrawing them until the end of the period. There are deposits that can be replenished, but cannot be withdrawn before a certain date.
  6. Look at your own actions realistically: you cannot become an ace in the family budget in one month, start small.
  7. Do not be afraid to radically change something in the family budget. In life, something is constantly changing, including wages and expenses.
  8. Divide one big dream into several small steps, this will make it easier for you to achieve your goal.

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 a certain period of time, for example, for 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 have probably noticed that with the same income, one family can have enough money for everything, while the other is accompanied by constant financial difficulties. It turns out that well-being depends not only on the ability to earn money, but also on the ability to manage finances. In a family, especially a young one, such a sensitive issue as money can cause a lot of problems if approached incorrectly. Today we will figure out what a family budget is and how to plan it.

general characteristics

So what is a family budget? The family budget is a set of financial and tangible assets owned by members of the same family. Before starting a conversation about planning it, it is worth noting that a thrifty attitude to money does not mean total stinginess and the rejection of all life's joys. Many people save money for years and deny themselves everything in order to make any serious purchase (house, car, and so on). As a result, having accomplished their plan, people realize that they have wasted precious years of their lives, and the joy of achieving the goal disappears somewhere. In order not to turn into a miser, for whom every penny becomes the meaning of life, it is necessary to competently approach the management of the family budget. It is advisable to draw up a clear plan, following which you can daily give yourself an account of the current state of affairs and prospects. So, the plan to achieve family well-being includes the following steps.

1. Control of income and expenses

At first glance, this is a completely banal item that everyone has heard about many times. In fact, he is able to literally work wonders in managing money. Having registered on paper, or on a computer, all income and expenses, a person automatically begins to look at the budget differently. Weaknesses and patterns in the handling of money immediately open before him.

To get started, you can draw up a plan for expenses and income for a month. Having mastered this simple technique, you can move on to more long-term planning. First you need to register all the income of the family budget. The second point is to determine and write out all the estimated costs. The latter can be grouped like this:

  1. Communal payments.
  2. Food.
  3. Daily expenses.
  4. Unforeseen expenses.
  5. Credits.
  6. Pleasure and so on.

After the very first financial receipts, you need to distribute them by source of income (if they come from more than one source) and immediately start filling out the list of expenses. For convenience, many families distribute money in envelopes - one for utility bills, another for groceries, and so on. During the month, it is worth sticking to the plan and not exceeding the specified amounts. If after the specified period all the envelopes are empty, and there is no free money left at all, this may indicate that the person spends too much, does not know how to save the family budget, or earns too little. In the latter case, this topic should be postponed for the time being, and first take care of increasing income.

2. Attitude to money and budget

This point sounds as simple as the previous one, but it is more difficult to complete. To make it easier to look at spending in a new way, you need to analyze how much effort family members spend on making money. Realizing this, evaluating his own efforts and the efforts of his loved ones, a person will no longer spend money unrestrainedly right and left.

To spot black holes in your budget, you need to carefully analyze your spending. An illustrative example is food. Many families throw away huge amounts of spoiled food only because, when purchasing them, they simply did not remember what was in the refrigerator, or bought more than they needed. Having sensibly assessed the state of affairs, a person understands how to save the family budget, while living a full life and not feeling the negative consequences of saving.

3. Getting rid of a bad habit

Of course, getting rid of, for example, smoking, you can reduce your monthly expenses, but we'll talk about another bad habit that specifically concerns money. We are talking about incontinence in spending and lack of self-control during purchases. Many people, having seen this or that interesting product on the counter, completely forget about the desire to control their financial flows and increase the family budget. In this case, only one thing can be recommended - never forget about your financial goals, which will always spur you on a reasonable allocation of funds. Here, again, it is worth noting that we are not talking about total savings, which affects the quality of life. Each house has things that pleased only once - at the time of purchase. Learning to predict the consequences of such purchases means getting rid of a bad habit.

4. Create passive income

Passive income is the best way to replenish the family budget. Many people know what passive income is, but when it comes to specific actions, the majority starts to panic. However, such a reaction to an unexplored field of activity is quite healthy. Therefore, before you start creating passive income, you need to get at least basic knowledge about investing, securities and other related concepts. Fortunately, today it is not difficult to find valuable information. To get started, you can simply find favorable deposit conditions and put money in the bank at interest.

5. Active income

Most effective method replenishment of the family budget - own business. Anyone who wants financial well-being and independence should try himself in this field. It is important to understand that a large amount of money does not reduce the number of problems and does not eliminate the planning of the family budget. However, it is much more pleasant to save money for a huge house in an elite area than for a one-room apartment, for example. Starting a business, it is recommended not to rush to put an end to the main job, especially for family people. Later, when the business starts to bring good money and require more time, you can quit with a clear conscience. By the way, the accumulation of start-up capital for your own business can be an excellent goal for planning a family budget.

Family budget goals

Strive to fulfill your dreams - this is not only normal, but also vital for anyone who wants to get up every morning with burning eyes, and not cursing at the alarm clock. The only question is in what ways a person goes to the goal and how rational his desire is.

In case of family accounting You can plan goals for both a week and a year, depending on their scale. To do this, you can use the same envelopes or, for example, a bank account. When at the end of the month all items of expenditure are covered, and income has not yet been exhausted, you should not rush to spend the remaining money. It will be much more useful to put them aside for those very purposes. Once you do this, you will begin to realize that you are moving in the right direction in your financial policy, and budgeting really helps.

Components of the family budget

What a person has planned does not always translate into reality. Therefore, so that unforeseen expenses are not added to the item of expenditure, it is worth compiling it with full responsibility.

It is important to take into account:

  1. Planning results in previous months. After analyzing your spending, you can understand in which points the monthly amount should be cut, and in which, on the contrary, it should be added. In addition, the experience of past months will help to predict those very unforeseen expenses.
  2. Holidays. It is mandatory to include birthdays, events at work, family celebrations, and so on in the expense items.
  3. Seasonality. Depending on the season, prices in stores can vary significantly. It is logical to assume that having bought this or that product in the season low prices, you can save money out of the blue. It is also recommended to buy tickets somewhere in advance, as they become more expensive as you approach the date of the event, flight, etc.

When planning a family budget, it is worth starting a diary. It will help you control cash flows with maximum accuracy and not keep unnecessary information in your head.

During the marked period (usually a month), you can adjust your expenses. At the same time, it is desirable that unforeseen items of expenditure be replenished not from deferred reserves, but by cutting spending. Thus, costs need to be redistributed according to timeliness and measure of need. Dentist fees, for example, can be offset by money spent on sweets.

"Airbag"

"Airbag", from the point of view of family budget planning, is called a reserve amount of money, which is used only in a serious unforeseen situation. At the same time, it is important not to confuse reserve funds with funds that are accumulated for the implementation of a particular goal.

Most people live paycheck to paycheck, and in the event of an unforeseen situation, they remain helpless. And such situations can arise for everyone, and, as a rule, they occur at the most inopportune moment, when a person is most vulnerable. The question of the reserve fund becomes especially significant with the advent of children.

Thus, as soon as a person begins to keep track of the family budget, he needs to take care of the formation of a reserve fund, which should be at least three times the amount of monthly expenses. Depending on how much money will be allocated to create a "safety cushion", the period of its creation can drag on for several months or even years. Nevertheless, it is highly discouraged to ignore this item of expenditure, as it is strategically important for everyone who wants to manage their cash flows and life in general. By forming a family financial reserve, you can protect yourself from the consequences financial crisis, diseases, car accidents, and other problems that lie in wait for us at every turn. Having a “financial safety cushion” makes it much easier for a person to achieve other goals.

The reserve fund is recommended to be divided into three equal parts. The first must be kept at home, in the form of cash. The second must be deposited in a bank account from which you can withdraw funds at any time. Well, the third should be put on a short-term deposit. Thanks to this distribution, you can protect your funds from yourself, but, if necessary, get access to them as quickly as possible.

high bar

When planning a family budget, it is recommended to set an overestimated goal. Not only will it encourage greater spending awareness, but it will also make it easier to reach lesser goals. However, there is another side of the coin here - too big a goal can demotivate a person, as it takes a long time to achieve. In order to remain motivated, a person needs to periodically receive rewards for their efforts. Therefore, high goals should be set only for those who are sure that they will not burn out. And if this happened, then instead of abandoning the dream, it can be visualized. For example, after saving up half of the money to buy a car and losing motivation, go to a car dealership and drive this car.

Consider a hypothetical example of how a family can achieve a high goal without scrupulous savings. Imagine the following situation: the average woman suddenly buys an apartment. Naturally, everyone is surprised. What is the secret of success? As the new owners of the living space explain, from the very beginning of their life together they set aside money every month. After some time, young people realized that at such a rate they would buy an apartment only after 15 years. Then they thought about how to save the family budget in order to save more.

As a result, the couple took the following steps:

  1. Reviewed family budget expenses and cut those that were optional.
  2. Started to reasonably save on all items of expenditure.
  3. I thought about career growth and income increase. This is especially important, because it is unlikely that it will be possible to achieve global goals with savings alone.
  4. Re-prioritised. Instead of traveling abroad, the couple sent the children to their grandmother, because spacious housing is more important to them than attractions that they cannot fully appreciate at their age.

Thanks to such simple measures, the family achieved its goal in five years, without burdening itself with loans and debts. This example of a family budget is quite real; any young and purposeful person can repeat it.

Tools

A fairly effective family budgeting tool is the use of a cost allocation formula.

Typically, this formula looks something like this:

  1. 60% - current expenses.
  2. 10% - "airbag".
  3. 10% - dreams and goals.
  4. 10% - unforeseen expenses.
  5. 10% - leisure.

After several months of applying this formula, you can try to cut some types of expenses and replenish others. For example, by reducing the amount of money spent on short-term pleasures, you can save more money for a dream.

Today, it is not at all necessary to keep records of your budget on paper. To control the income and expenses of the family budget, there are special programs for a computer or smartphone. All the user needs to do is enter numbers there. The program will automatically calculate everything and present it in the form of graphic patterns. This allows not only to quickly see the amounts of interest, but also to analyze the prospect of a particular budgeting strategy. Finding and downloading such an offer today is absolutely not difficult.

For those who decide to figure out what a family budget is and how to plan it, the first thing to do is to understand that saving does not mean being greedy, and that spending planning is inherent not only to the poor, but also to the rich. Moreover, it is the poor who are more prone to disorderly spending, which is gaining momentum with increasing income. As a result, it turns out that there is more money, but the situation is the same. Therefore, those who want to achieve financial goals quickly should think about the ways to save the family budget, which we have considered. Healthy savings will definitely affect your well-being and will ensure a happy future for your children.

Goals should be reasonable and not contradict the interests of all family members. For example, it is foolish to buy an expensive car when the house needs repairs.

Those who plan a budget but still like to spend money on unnecessary things are advised to make the funds less accessible. For example, you can put them in a deposit account, which you can’t just take and cash out.

You need to review your budget periodically. Most likely, there will be expenses in it that can be cut without problems.

Ways to save the family budget can be different, but it is highly not recommended to save on health! Health is the main human resource, and the more you neglect it, the more likely it is that one day it will let you down.

Planning a family budget is just as important as making good money. Therefore, this issue deserves attention.

Today we have to figure out how to spend money correctly. This topic is of interest to citizens of all countries. And constantly. After all, money is a means of existence. And they should provide the citizens as much as possible. Not everyone knows how to properly manage them. And even more so how to postpone. When you have your own family and children, the issues related to finances are seriously exacerbated. To avoid this, you just need to be able to spend money. How to learn it? What will help save and manage the family budget? The best tips and tricks will be presented below. All of the above is not a panacea, but it will help not to overspend. In some cases, it will turn out to spend less and save more, while not compromising yourself in purchases.

Family budget - eternal dispute

Maintaining a family budget is a real art, which is not subject to everyone. But to master it, at least try to do it, is recommended to every person. When done correctly, problems are not terrible. They simply won't. Except when wages are delayed. And then the scale of the problems will be minimal.

Very good way savings and savings. Many, as already mentioned, are recommended to open a deposit in a bank and transfer money there. This will help not to touch the funds and save them. In any case, it should be in difficult access. Only in emergency situations is it allowed to spend these savings.

Plan and facts

How to spend money in the family? For those who have already mastered the previously listed methods, you can slightly expand the table of income and expenses. And add to it such components as "plan" and "in fact".

In the first column, it is necessary to prescribe in advance what expenses and for what amount are planned. The second contains information about real costs. Quite an interesting way of planning "free money". It is recommended to reduce the "in fact" column on a monthly basis. In the same way as the "plan" section. Of course, taking into account the fact that the decrease in these indicators does not harm the life and well-being of the family.

No to loans

How to spend less money? Some people think that loans are a good way to save money. In fact, most citizens who have learned to live within their means and save well say otherwise.

It is not recommended to take loans when planning a budget. But you do not need to exclude them from the pivot table if available. Lack of credit is a positive outlook. If a person does not have debts, then the previously paid amount can be set aside for a rainy day.

Personal needs

How to spend money correctly? Some don't understand this. If we are talking about one person, then there are no special problems with budget planning. But as soon as a family appears, certain difficulties arise, as already mentioned.

The thing is, everyone has their own needs. What each person wants for himself. While learning how to plan and do home accounting, you need to put your desires on the back burner.

By the way, all "free" money at the end of the month is recommended to be distributed among family members for personal needs. Or enter separate columns in the expense and income accounting table for this purpose. Allocate a fixed amount of money to everyone for desires.

Example

This is the right way to manage a family budget. The table example below is far from the most advanced method. Rather, it is suitable for beginners. Through it, you can easily learn how to distribute finances so as not to fall into a financial hole.

An approximate table of expenses and income looks like this.

Article Plan Fact Difference
Income50 000 50 000 0
Products10 000 11 500 -1 500
Communal payments5 000 4 500 500
Household chemicals1 000 0 1 000
Personal needs5 000 8 000 -3 000
Directions10 000 7 000 3 000
Outcome31 000 31 000 0
Postponed5 000 5 000 0

This, as already mentioned, is far from the most common option for accounting for expenses. But it does help in the beginning. In general, planning a home budget is a crucial moment. And it is recommended to entrust this lesson to those who are best at it. A little patience and strength - and you can easily learn how to distribute cash and good savings too.