Family budget: we pay monthly and we save
This year again, will you have to give up your vacation? Do you end up in the red every month? Small accounting tips to get back on track and balance your family budget!
The first thing to do, to balance your family budget, it is to try to pay every month fixed expensess, the costs which you cannot cut: the pay of the childminder, the bills of the cell phones, the repayment of the mortgage loan, the energy suppliers, the taxes, etc. A word of advice: rather than taking the amount of your last bill, go and find all of the ones for the year. Why ? Maybe in June, you spent more on your cell phone than last January, or your heating bill has doubled (obviously, with a baby, you get hotter). Write all the figures month by month on a table, you can make a realistic monthly average over the year (divide the sum by 12). For each expense, count about 10% increase over the following year (rather considerate!). You will therefore have to block each month the average obtained increased by 10%. Enough to avoid cold sweats when sailing on sight! Well, fixed costs are good, but how do you deal with the unexpected if you don’t have any savings?
If you know you have a big purchase to make (a new car for the new baby) or that you want to put aside in anticipation of a change of household appliance, it is necessary to foresee the lifespan of these devices. For example, your washing machine is 3 years old. You know that it will last about 10 years (yes, don’t dream, with the countless number of dirty bodies and various regurgitations, it will not last long). If the model that suits you is worth around $ 500, you need to save that amount over 7 years, or 7 × 12 = 84 months, which is $ 5,95 per month. Conclusion: to be able to face the purchase of a new washing machine with peace of mind in a few years – without having to take out a credit – it will be necessary to set aside about 6 € per month. Take a tour of the house and write down on an Excel table (or on a specially dedicated notepad) all the big purchases to be made. Once this inventory has been carried out, you will be able to calculate the total to be saved each month. Where to put this money? Rather than leaving it in the checking account (translate: being tempted to spend it), and if you put it on a savings booklete? Not necessarily a blocked account like a Housing Savings Plan, but rather a banal Livret A. From there, every month, when your pay falls, you must first deduct all the fixed costs then you subtract the amount of your calculated forecasts. The rest will be spent on current expenses (shopping, gasoline and extra).
Sandra’s testimony (Arcueil in the 94)“With an 18-month-old flea and a big dog to feed, it’s not easy to get by! After months in the red, I found a method: I count all the fixed costs + budget for shopping and gasoline. I subtract and see what we have left to finish the month. I withdraw this amount in cash and I ban checks and credit cards, except for shopping and gasoline, already taken into account. It allows us to better see our money! “ |