If you find it difficult to keep on top of your monthly expenses, simply continue reading to discover 5 key budgeting tips, which will ensure that your household spends less than your monthly household income.
5 Key budgeting tips for your household to follow:
When you visit your local grocery store, look for the lowest priced product, which offers the greatest value
Instead of simply picking the cheapest bottle of shampoo or loaf of bread on the shelf, take a look at the volume of product each brand offers and pick the brand which offers the lowest price per gram or per liter.
As often the cheapest product available will be a fraction of the size of the other products displayed.
Use your smart phone’s calculator to add up your projected grocery bill as you shop
If you often experience a rude awakening when you pay for your grocery bill, simply use your smart phone’s calculator to add up your projected grocery bill as you place each item in your shopping cart. If your projected bill starts to get out of hand, you can choose to put any items which aren’t essential back, which you can then subtract from your total. You’ll also start to think twice before putting expensive luxury items in your cart.
If you have children, give them a pocket allowance, so that they can learn the value of a dollar
If you have school-aged children, it’s well worth giving your children an allowance which they can use to purchase luxury items such as toys. That way, you won’t have to fork out a small fortune on purchasing enough toys to fill a toy store, which your children will likely forget about, after a couple of weeks. As your children will have the opportunity to save their own money to purchase the latest toy, which all their friends are raving about. If you’re okay with the idea of your children consuming unhealthy snacks in moderation, you may also want to give each child a $5 weekly budget to select one or two treats from your local grocery store.
Sit down as a household and agree on a monthly budget
By sitting down around a table and working out a monthly budget, which everyone is happy to contribute to, you’ll find out which items are worth splurging on and which items you may be able to cut out of your budget. As an example, if you’re still paying for cable TV but half of your household has a Netflix account, for a fraction of the price of cable, it may well be time to terminate your cable TV subscription.
Make sure that your monthly expenses are less than your monthly household income
Remember that you have to pick reliable and affordable companies according to your budget. The best electric companies are those who have the best rates and allow you to check your consumption rates. You can find several providers, so you have to pick carefully and wisely.
When creating a budget it’s imperative that your monthly expenses are less than your household’s monthly income. As it’s unwise to purchase items on credit, which you can’t afford to purchase with cash.
So if one of your key goals as a household is to decrease your spending and increase your saving, it’s well worth following the 5 budgeting tips listed above.