Keeping A Track On The Family Budget

Last month I wrote about how we were working with Wilson Field to keep a spending diary to look at ways of reducing our spending and keeping within our family budget.  Meal planning is something that I have done for a while.  It started when I found that I was at home with a baby, with a husband expecting an evening meal to be prepared for him, and yet most days come 4 o’clock I’d be scrabbling around for something to cook.  Often I’d end up having to pop out to get the final ingredient needed which took up time I didn’t have.  I also found it rather stressful.  So now meal planning is the norm.  That said I will happily have some flexibility in there, but it means that I know what I am cooking most days and can shop more efficiently.

A family needs to have a budget in order to avoid overspending and debt. When you spend your monthly salary or other income without thinking about the consequences, this can lead to debt. Debt can be very stressful and lead to arguments in the family. To prevent this, it is important that people know how much they have coming in each month and set up a monthly budget based on their earnings.

With the help of the planner I’ve become more focused about what I need to buy. I’ve tried to resist impulse buys at the supermarket and elsewhere, if nothing else because I don’t want to have to write them down.  We’ve committed ourselves to doing some major works to our kitchen this year and we need to make sure we aren’t wasting money.  I do find that planning what we will eat each week, even if it gets tweaked a little sometimes, is so helpful.  I know what meals I have the ingredients for in the house.  I can plan ahead for things like getting stuff out of the freezer.  Shopping is quicker and easier because I know what I’m getting.  There’s less stress for me because I know what I’m cooking and I know that the things I need are in the house.

The book has helped too.  We’ve had a few conversations about our finances and decided on some medium term plans to help us achieve our goals. Keeping a grip on the family finances is a way of making sure we have enough money for some of the bigger things we want to do.

A financial plan provides a framework for creating and achieving your goals. It’s important to prioritize the goals that are most important to you in your life.

There are many different types of budgets that you can use for various reasons. The key is to find the one that will work best for where you are in life, what is most important to you, and what your financial situation looks like.  Every family will be different, but similar techniques will help you achieve what you want to with your money.