How to make a monthly spending plan. Planning and saving personal budget. Services and programs for convenient planning and management of the family budget
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 lead family budget? Best Tips and recommendations 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 |
Income | 50 000 | 50 000 | 0 |
Products | 10 000 | 11 500 | -1 500 |
Communal payments | 5 000 | 4 500 | 500 |
Household chemicals | 1 000 | 0 | 1 000 |
Personal needs | 5 000 | 8 000 | -3 000 |
Directions | 10 000 | 7 000 | 3 000 |
Outcome | 31 000 | 31 000 | 0 |
Postponed | 5 000 | 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 money, as well as save well.
Dwight Eisenhower once uttered the wisdom that underlies the financial health of every prosperous family.
Hello, friends. With you Artem Bilenko. I am the author of this blog. Today we will talk about how to distribute the family budget for a month. We will look at examples of several classic schemes in which I will show how to properly distribute personal finance flows.
After studying the material, you just need to choose the appropriate option, adjust the numbers and start managing your personal finances competently.
P.S. I recommend to pay attention to the site "". Here they teach financial literacy. How to properly manage personal finances in order to save up for a house, apartment, car. How to properly invest the accumulated money and increase income. Allow yourself an annual vacation and travel around the world.
The material in this article is intended for users who have already read all the material in the section "Family and personal budget". If you are not yet in the subject, do not rush to calculate your home budget. Check out at least five of the posts listed below. They contain the basic theory that helps to plan, distribute and control money.
- "Three types of family budget - their advantages and disadvantages".
- "7 envelopes - a simple and effective method of managing a family budget."
- "What should not be allowed when planning a family budget - the 10 most common mistakes".
- "How to keep a family budget in a notebook - an example with tables of income and expenses".
- "Overview of the best free programs for family and personal budgeting."
Option number 1. Calculation of the joint family budget
In the joint budget, all the income of the spouses is added up and directed to the needs of the family.
With such an organization of family finances, money management occurs according to the following scheme:
- determined total income families;
- spending categories are formed (envelopes will help you here);
- on the last day, a balance is drawn up, which sums up the results of the month.
Let's see how this algorithm will look in the table.
April 2017 |
|
---|---|
Family income |
|
Type of earnings | Amount, hryvnia |
Husband's salary | |
wife's salary | |
Accrued interest on a deposit | |
Total income | |
Family expenses |
|
Mandatory spending |
|
Investments | |
Housing maintenance | |
Household expenses (food, household chemicals, etc.) | |
Amount of mandatory spending | 7150 (65%) |
Variable spending |
|
Children's expenses | |
Amount of variable expenses | 2750 (25%) |
Reserve |
|
Additional expenses |
Option number 2. Calculation of a separate family budget
In a separate budget, the income of each of the spouses is divided into two proportional parts, allowing to pay general and individual expenses.
Schematically, it looks like this:
- spouses determine what part of their personal budget (as a percentage) they will spend on paying for the general needs of the family;
- a category of expenses is formed, for which the husband will be responsible monthly;
- a category of expenses is formed, for which the wife will be responsible monthly;
- the allocated money goes to targeted needs;
- each spouse within a month to monitor the implementation of their part of the family budget;
- husband and wife dispose of free money at their own discretion;
- on the last day of the month, the balance sheet is formed.
Consider an example.
April 2017 |
|||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Family income |
|||||
Type of earnings | Amount, hryvnia |
||||
Husband's salary | |||||
wife's salary | |||||
Total income | |||||
Part of the personal budget that will be spent by each of the spouses to pay for the general needs of the family |
|||||
Wife |
|||||
Total monthly expenses of each spouse |
|||||
Amount, hryvnia | Amount, hryvnia |
||||
Investments | Household expenses | ||||
Housing maintenance | Fundraising for annual leave | ||||
Children's expenses | Additional expenses | ||||
Fundraising for major purchases | |||||
Total | Total | ||||
Personal monthly expenses of each spouse |
|||||
Wife |
|||||
5 000 hryvnia | 5 000 hryvnia |
Option number 3. Calculation of the shared family budget
In the shared form of financial management, the spouses together worry about the needs of the family, but at the same time do not forget to allocate part of the funds for personal needs.
Schematically, such a budget is formed as follows:
- the total family income is summed up;
- shares of joint and personal needs are determined;
- spending categories are formed;
- funds are allocated for targeted needs;
- within a month, control over the implementation of the plan is carried out;
- on the last day, a balance is drawn up, which sums up the results of the month;
- Spouses dispose of the rest of the money at their own discretion.
Let's create a rough budget plan.
April 2017 | |
---|---|
Family income | |
Type of earnings | Amount, hryvnia |
Husband's salary | 7 500 |
wife's salary | 7 500 |
Total income | 15 000 |
The share of the budget that will be spent by each of the spouses to pay for the general needs of the family | |
Husband | Wife |
80% | 80% |
6000 | 6000 |
Joint budget: UAH 12,000 | |
The share of the budget that each spouse will spend on personal needs | |
20% | 20% |
1500 | 1500 |
Family expenses | |
Mandatory spending | |
Investments | 1200 (10%) |
Housing maintenance (utility payments, cable TV, internet, electricity) | 2400 (20%) |
Household expenses (food, household chemicals, etc.) | 4200 (35%) |
Amount of mandatory spending | 7800 (65%) |
Variable spending | |
Children's expenses | 1800 (15%) |
Fundraising for major purchases | 600 (5%) |
Fundraising for annual leave | 600 (5%) |
Amount of variable expenses | 3000 (25%) |
Reserve | |
Additional expenses | 1200 (10%) |
Planning horizons
In most cases, violations of the budget drawn up are associated with unforeseen expenses that the family could not calculate in a timely manner. To reduce the number of such situations to a minimum, you need to plan several months in advance.
Let's see how it works. We will start from the fact that it is now April 2017.
1st horizon: Estimate contingencies 3 months ahead.
Month | Possible costs | Required amount, hryvnia |
---|---|---|
May | two birthdays | 2000 |
Excursion at the daughter's school | 3000 | |
June | Friend's wedding | 3000 |
July | - | - |
Analysis | ||
In the next three months, the burden on the budget may increase by 8,000 hryvnia. Without a loan, the family will not be able to pay such expenses. The maximum limit is 3000 hryvnia. This money will be used to pay for the excursion, since the child is more important than an optional wedding and two birthdays. |
The second (6 months) and third (12 months) planning horizons will be drawn up in a similar way. They allow you to see holes in the budget in advance, take measures to eliminate them and prepare in a timely manner for difficult financial months.
Conclusion
Friends, now you know how to plan your salary for the next month. Do not neglect the knowledge gained, make a table and take control of your financial life. After that, tell your friends about the benefits of a family budget and share this article with them.
Family budget planning is one of the foundations for managing personal finances and achieving financial well-being.
What is it for?
- Determine the amount of money that you can not spend on your current life, but direct it towards achieving your goals and financial independence (financial freedom).
- Provide comfort in life so that money does not “leak through your fingers”, but is spent on something important and necessary.
Everyone knows that it needs to be planned, but few people do it.
Why don't people plan their family budget?
In our opinion, there are two reasons.
The first is the wrong attitude towards him.
The second is that the process of planning a family budget is becoming more complicated.
For many, competent management of personal finances is associated with the need to save a lot, deprive yourself of life's pleasures. This is a big mistake.
In fact, the quality of life should improve. Due to what is this happening?
The fact is that most people are wasted. For example, the abuse of energy drinks, frequent meals in cafes, overpayment for goods and services that could be cheaper (clothes, mobile connection etc.), impulsive purchases. Refusal of them will not reduce life comfort in any way.
But with what pleasure you can redirect part of the saved money to something really important for you: personal care, relaxation, hobbies, gifts to relatives and friends.
You can see that this is not about total cost cutting, but about setting priorities. Such planning of the family budget will increase the quality of life without the need to earn more.
It turns out that the family budget is a faithful watchdog that guards your life comfort and your plans for the future.
Family budget table
There are programs that consider expenses in monetary terms and in kind, up to grams of onions that you ate in a month.
Such detailing does not give any benefit, but takes a lot of time and effort. In the end it gets boring.
Therefore, install an application on your phone about managing a budget, which lists the main items of income and expenses: groceries, dining out, communication costs, transport, clothes and shoes, etc.
Let's be honest with ourselves, planning a personal budget is not the most interesting thing in life. You need to give him exactly as much time as necessary. Therefore, minimum effort - maximum results.
A person receives a salary, makes expenses, and saves only the money that remains at the end of the month. But there will always be very “important” and “urgent” needs that will take the remaining money. This is the wrong approach.
It is much easier immediately after receiving a salary to set aside the amount that you planned to direct to create personal capital, and spend the rest of the money calmly. We are moving towards the goal, creating planned savings, so we spend money comfortably and
Family budget and family expenses
Some people are embarrassed to save: how they will be thought if they ask for a discount or are indignant at the high cost of goods. In fact, the rich are not afraid of the assessments of others. They know the value of money.
How much is one hour of your life worth? Suppose your salary is 60,000 rubles. with a standard work schedule of 176 hours per month. It turns out that one hour of your life costs 340 rubles.
If 20% of your income slips through your fingers, then 35 hours of your precious life or almost one working week is thrown into the air.
Just think, you could rest for a whole week and still not lose the comfort of life.
Will you now be embarrassed to ask for the quality of the services provided to you or ask for a discount? We hope not.
For example, a person, for the sake of economy, rides a bus, and not a minibus, while experiencing discomfort and negative emotions associated with it. Then he “breaks down” and overpays the extra couple of thousand in a restaurant. There is no real cost reduction, but the negative experience remains.
So don't try to save too much on the little things. Analyze the largest items of your expenses and reduce them without loss of comfort for life. Here the Pareto law applies: 20% of efforts give 80% of the result and vice versa.
Maintaining a family budget is not difficult!
Moreover, family budget planning can ensure a comfortable life and financial well-being. All you need to do is organize its planning in a convenient way for yourself and enjoy the positive results. This is how money becomes an ally and begins to work for a person.
Family budget and expenses
How to achieve optimal spending.There are two approaches.
The first is for people with developed willpower and inner discipline.At the beginning of the first month, you draw up a spending plan, roughly figuring out where and how much money you need to spend. Then for a month you live according to this plan. If you don’t have enough money for something, you can’t give yourself slack and spend more.
You need to “enjoy” the consequences of your decisions as much as possible, deny yourself something. This is very sobering and next month your plan will be more accurate. And of course, do not forget to postpone immediately after receiving a salary.
The second option is suitable for people with less developed willpower, i.e. for everyone else.
The first month you just write down where the money goes. At the end of the month, with a 95% chance, you will be shocked by how you manage your personal finances. Many will ask themselves the question: “Where do I find so much money?”.
When you have concrete numbers, you can think about how to cut costs. For example, look for a cheaper business lunch or connect an economical phone plan, read an interesting book on some weekend instead of having fun in a nightclub, etc. In the end, in 3-4 months you will come to optimal costs.
How to manage the increase in salary?
Suppose you are used to living on 40,000 rubles a month, at least 4,000 go to achieve goals and the remaining 36,000 are spent. Your salary has been increased by 5,000 rubles. What will the majority do in such a situation? Will increase the cost of all this amount. But you are used to living on 36,000 rubles. Even 2,500 rubles in addition to expenses will allow you to spend more. But the process of accumulating capital for your purposes will go much faster when the monthly invested amount is no longer 4,000, but as much as 6,500 rubles. And so on with all additional income.
Rich people than they earn, and direct the difference to the creation and increase of capital. You should follow their lead.
Publication date: 04/22/2017 14 440 0 Hello dear readers of our site. Today we will tell you about the family budget, or rather about 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, common or mixed . Discuss the priorities of each spouse (education, investments, loans, creating 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 the wealthy and successful people when on reference household a certain amount is allocated, the remaining money each of the spouses spends 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 records in advance. Money. With such data in hand, spending planning will not cause difficulties.
Main components of the family budget:
- income of husband and wife (salary, social benefits, pension, part-time work);
- 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 the family budget receives large sum, set aside 20% or more, if possible.
Costs
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:
- 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.
- 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 profitable ones in financial terms options, learn to bargain.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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, which will bring 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 write down every purchase, including food, but you will 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 way- 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:
- Personal- designed for a single user, additional options may not be available.
- a commercial- designed for one user, while there is access to all program options (restriction of access rights, Accounts users, events, contractors, tasks).
AlzexPersonalFinance has ample opportunities and unlimited nesting of a tree-like system of categories, there are a large number of labels for each transaction. Loans and debts are recorded, tracked financial goals and control costs. 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:
- profit and loss accounting;
- payment planning;
- debt accounting;
- account control;
- exchange rates.
The only problem " Home bookkeeping"- for using it you will have to pay 500 rubles.
- 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. Distinctive feature programs - 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. negative moment- AceMoney has only one operation: a transaction, you will not find “income” and “expenses” departments.
Advantages of AceMoney:
- can keep records valuable papers 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.
- 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.
- Clearly define for yourself the ultimate goal of your actions. For example, by the end of the year, save up for a car.
- Accounting for income and expenses must be very accurate and thorough.
- Consider ways to form a "financial safety cushion" for the family.
- 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.
- Look at own actions real: you can’t become an ace in the family budget in one month, start small.
- Do not be afraid to radically change something in the family budget. In life, something is constantly changing, including wages and expenses.
- Divide one big dream into several small steps, this will make it easier for you to achieve your goal.
Useful articles:
Living within your means is not a talent, but only rational approach to your own expenses. How to plan a personal budget so that there is always enough money? Just stick to a simple plan for your spending, correctly setting life priorities. So, distribute the entire monthly income according to the list, taking into account the need for deductions to each item:
- Mandatory payments.
- for food.
- Transport costs.
- Amount to buy clothes.
- Entertainment expenses.
- emergency fund.
- Untouchable savings.
A full-fledged scheme will be exactly the one where each of the articles received its monthly share of finance. Now let's analyze the correctness of planning personal expenses. Perhaps you should reconsider some positions in order not to be disappointed in the work of the personal cost structure, but to adequately evaluate and understand its benefits.
Mandatory payments
Item of expenses for loans, rent, regular Money transfers. Ideally, if it does not exceed 20% of monthly income. Otherwise, the rest of the cost items should be seriously cut, and “entertainment” should be temporarily excluded from the plan altogether. Otherwise, the quality of life will suffer for quite some time. And this is a direct path to depression. When the percentage of mandatory payments exceeds 20% by a lot (for example, you pay rented apartment), the amount of personal income should immediately be determined by the figure minus the item of mandatory payments. By repaying your loans and not acquiring new debt, you significantly reduce this item in the amount of financing. And this is what we should strive for.
Food expenses
Should not be less than 30% of salary. It is especially convenient to calculate if you are used to eating at home. It is both economical and complete. But if you have to dine outside your own kitchen, food costs are divided into 2 items. And if the home table special attention does not require, for lunches and dinners in a cafe, you will need to determine the daily limit of funds. It can only be exceeded by cutting the daily cost of home food. For convenience, you can keep a small notebook that controls the cost of food. When buying products today, try to save money in order to increase the allowable limit for tomorrow.
Transport costs
Getting around the city is not cheap. For one day of active life in a metropolis, an impressive amount of money goes to pay for travel. Alas, this item of expenditure is very often forgotten, while it deserves serious attention. Remember how many times a day you use public transport, calculate the cost of travel to and from work. Some will be surprised by the results. In any case, this amount deserves special attention. Up to 10% of the salary is sometimes spent only on travel. Try to save money here. Buy travel and combined tickets, take advantage of carrier discounts.
Buying clothes
This is a cumulative article. Not every month you need to buy new things, but it is desirable to make savings in this expense item all the time. So there will be no acute shortage of funds for seasonal purchases of outerwear and shoes. Putting aside about 15% of monthly income, you can gradually provide yourself with a pretty decent wardrobe. It is clear that some of these savings will constantly go to linen and necessary accessories, but this expense will be little noticeable if the money for clothes is set aside every month in the prescribed amount.
Recreation and entertainment
Required aspect. These savings can take into account long-term needs (for holidays), or they can be spent on a daily basis. Everyone has a hobby. Everyone loves to meet friends in a cafe after a hard week. Some are enthusiastic about clubs. It is important to understand that expensive entertainment should not be frequent. This is corrupting to some extent. 15% of your own budget will be enough to fully relax. And it's up to you to decide whether to spend this money immediately or save up for a trip abroad during your vacation. You can combine pleasures, if you approach the issue wisely.
Unexpected expenses
They take at least 5% of the salary. It is also better to accumulate this money, because unplanned expenses can be impressive. No one is immune from illness when medicines are required. With everyone, a breakdown of the washing machine can happen when you need to call the master for something.
Untouchable stock
5% of income is sent here. These savings must not be touched in any way. Everyone needs a personal stabilization fund if exceptional or difficult life circumstances occur. Over the years, it grows and is quite a reliable support. Therefore, of course, invaluable.