How to learn how to save a family budget

Long gone are the days when Soviet people puzzled over where to spend their hard-earned hard-earned money and, apart from putting it in a savings book, could not think of anything.

Today, things are different: the abundance of goods on the shelves seduces and practically leaves you penniless at the end of the month, forcing you to sit on one bread and pasta. However, for some reason, things are not like this for everyone, and it does not depend on the level of salary at all. So what's the deal?

But the fact is that many simply do not know how to manage the family budget on their own.

And when planning this very family budget, they stumble upon a lot of rakes, and the main ones are the pay day, when on the way home from work with a tidy sum in their pocket they feel almost the wealthiest person on Earth and can afford to spend the lion's share salaries for knickknacks and clothes, which are destined to then settle at the bottom of the wardrobe and which on another day they simply would not buy due to uselessness.

How to learn how to save a family budget

So, the first rule: on the day of pay, the route from work is strictly home, not a step left or right.

Then, when you have safely conveyed the entire amount of money to a safe place, the most interesting comes.

Arm yourself with a piece of paper and a pencil and:

1. Calculate the total amount of family income, including informal earnings, children, scholarships, pensions, etc. This will be the first column of your table.

2. In the second column, count the monthly regular expenses of the family: rent, transportation / gas, loans, education, etc. Allocate a certain amount for food, throwing a few hundred rubles on it (for pasta and bread). You will need five envelopes: put your fixed expenses in one, and divide the food funds into the other four at the rate of one envelope per week.

3. The rest of the salary should be divided into three parts.

Set aside the first part in the “emergency reserve” envelope, the second in “unforeseen expenses”.

If at the end of the month there is a certain amount left in the envelope with unforeseen expenses, it can easily be transferred to the envelope with an emergency reserve, thus saving up for a large purchase.

Note that unforeseen expenses do not include spending on a taxi, buying a fur coat, shoes and powder - they mean only expenses for a broken car, heels, birthdays, etc. P.

In the third, last envelope, put money for entertainment, shopping and sweets.

4. Calculate pocket money based on the amount that you are willing to allocate for these needs, divide it by the number of working days in a month and you will get the amount that you can afford to spend daily. It is very important to constantly remember this conditional limit and not exceed it, and if you have already broken and spent the limit for several days in one hour, please, tighten your belt tighter and save the next few days.

5. If at the end, after calculating the profits and expenses, the difference between them is positive, then you have coped with the task of planning the budget for the month perfectly. It remains only to try to follow it in everyday life. If the difference turned out to be negative, then you will have to cut some cash costs, it’s up to you to decide which ones.

Another condition for the rational use of your money is that you do not carry large sums with you, then you simply cannot physically buy the blouse or boots you like. No money, no problem, as they say.

Get rid of credit cards: no matter how attractive the terms of the loan, you still have to give it back, and this is a very unpleasant procedure, even if you give it in installments and in small amounts.

And, lastly, record all expenses for a month, then, summing up, it will be easier for you to find your punctures and weaknesses and avoid them next month. And remember, the economy must be economical. Save!

The article was prepared for the site BeWoman.ru.