The salary is paid regularly, but there is never any money. Many of our compatriots will agree with this statement. What is the problem - a low level of wages or inability to correctly allocate personal funds? We will try to understand how to conduct housekeeping accounts and learn how to control the finances of your family.
Pros of home financial planning
At first glance the management of home accounting may seem like a boring and routine duty. Constantly collect all checks and write down expenses - this is unusual for those who have never thought about their own expenses before. But in fact, financial planning is the key to stability and prosperity. Having started to write down your expenses and incomes, you can quickly find an answer to the question: "Where do the money go?" A rational distribution of funds and savings will help you save up for large purchases and get rid of debts. The home budget is an affordable financial planning tool. With its help, you can learn to save money, give up spontaneous acquisitions and gain financial independence. How to conduct home accounting correctly and efficiently?
Common options for organizing a family budget
Three forms of the family budget are most common. This is a general, partially shared or separate budget. The classical variant of distribution of means in many families of our country is a common family money. This system assumes that all earnings are kept by one of the spouses, he is responsible for their distribution and spending. Most often, with such a budget organization, the wife manages money. The main disadvantage of this option is the increased liability (for the distribution of funds) of one of the spouses. Most often, most of the household duties fall on the shoulders of the person who manages the cash flows. A separate budget is often chosen by young couples. In this case, each spouse manages his personal income, while allocating a part for general needs. The option is not bad, but only if both husband and wife work and have a stable income. The most democratic form of the family budget: partially common. There are two of its varieties. In the first case, most of the money earned by the spouses is added to the total savings fund and is spent in accordance with the needs of the family. At the same time, everyone has enough money in personal management. In the second case, the main household expenditure spends the most of the spouses' wages. The money earned by the second of the pair (a lower salary) is postponed. Both options are a very suitable basis for sound financial planning. How to properly manage home accounting, who should manage money in the family? The answer to this question each pair must find directly for themselves. All the above home budget options are acceptable and have the right to exist.
Home accounting tools
How to conduct household accounting: in a notebook, in a computer program or in your personal smartphone? It all depends on the style of your life and personal preferences. The classic format is a ledger. This is a notebook, notebook or barn book, pre-lined for the number of items of expenditure. In this case, the budget is filled by hand. You will need pens (it is more convenient to use at least 2 colors). It is useful to store your ledger along with a calculator for the simplicity and speed of counting. An alternative option for running a home budget will appeal to fans of electronic documentation. The well-known Microsoft Office Excel program was created specifically for working with tables. It is not difficult for an inexperienced PC user to master it. How to conduct home accounting in Excel, are there any nuances? No, everything is just as much as in a paper notebook - you just need to create a table of the appropriate size. Today, private financial planning is an actual topic. If you want, it's easy to find special applications for PCs and smartphones, as well as online services designed for home budget. For many users, they seem incredibly comfortable. Often such programs do have nice additions in the form of shopping lists, reminders, automatic summing up of the month.
Basic rules of home budget management
What you need to know about accounting for the successful application of its principles in everyday life? The first rule is regularity. Record all expenses regularly. Not every one of us has the ability to fill out the financial tables on a daily basis. However, at least every 2 days, it is necessary. If you keep records less often, you, most likely, will forget a large part of the small expenses. Experts in financial planning recommend not to miss a single trifle. Often, such "small" expenses as paying for public transportation, ice cream and coffee on the way home make up a significant part of an expense item.
How to fill in the income section correctly?
The first and rather important section of the home budget is the income of the family. All means received by family members are recorded here. These are salaries, social benefits, interest on investments. Do not forget about one-off incomes. Prizes, personal financial gifts, compensation payments should also be recorded. Even if you won a lottery or accidentally found a bill on the street, be sure to write down the amount received in the income section. It turns out that all sources of income can be divided into stable and one-off. Of course, financial planning should rely on the first category.
Main items of expenditure
The most significant item of expenditure is monthly payments. Each individual person pays monthly bills for utilities, Internet and telephony, education. Usually these are fixed amounts. If we are conducting house accounting, all regular monthly payments can be made in one column. Many modern people spend their personal finances on additional education or self-development. Is it worth to enter the cost of a subscription to a fitness center or language courses in the section of monthly payments? If there are no more than 3 such items, it is logical to write them down in the same section. With more paid educational services, it makes sense to put them in a separate column. The next extensive section of the home budget is food. How much should total columns in the table, how to conduct housekeeping accounts correctly? Everything depends on the needs and habits of the family. Standard for most items of expenditure: home, clothing, household chemicals, medicines, entertainment, hobbies, gifts. If the family has children or pets, for each of them, you can also allocate a separate section of spending. How many sections all your budget should have, you will understand as soon as you start to lead it. Do not forget to make a column "Miscellaneous". It will be possible to record all forgotten expenses, as well as expenses that are not amenable to the chosen classification.
And will the home budget coincide?
It is enough to write down your expenses for 1-2 months, and you can understand where the money goes in your family. Most of our compatriots, unconsciously related to the home economy, can with confidence only name the amount of monthly payments. And this is already important data for analysis. If the cost of utilities and other mandatory monthly contributions exceed half of the family income, this is an occasion to think about finding a part-time job or changing the main workplace. In cases where this is not possible, you should try to formalize subsidies. For many categories of beneficiaries, social discounts are provided for the payment of public utilities and the education of children. Be sure to regularly sum up the budget and analyze the rationality of spending. You already know how to conduct household accounting. A PC program designed to control personal expenses can read all entered data in an automated mode. If you are home budget in the notebook, you will have to use a calculator.
Principles of rational economy
Maintaining home accounting will allow you to be more aware of spending. How to save without compromising the quality of life? One of the vast items of expenditure is food. You can really save on food if you always make up an approximate menu and lists of necessary purchases in advance. Compare prices in different shops, make purchases on wholesale bases. It is also possible to save money on purchasing clothes, by attending seasonal sales and preferring things from past collections. Try to abandon impulsive purchases, try to plan in advance each trip to the store.
How to conduct household accounting in a notebook: sample filling
We bring to your attention an exemplary template for keeping house accounting in paper version. You can draw in your ledger the same table or slightly change it. According to some experts, it is much more convenient to arrange fixed expenditure items in the form of vertical columns and fill them in as far as carrying out financial transactions. This is just one of the options how to conduct housekeeping in the notebook. The example given at the beginning of this paragraph is best suited for a young family or sole financial planning. If the budget is made for spouses with at least one child, the vertical arrangement of the columns is most relevant.
Conclusion
We tried to explain in as much detail as possible what home accounting is. How to conduct, a sample sample table, options for organizing a family budget - all this is presented in our review. Maybe it's time to start recording all income and expenses right now?