How to Set Up a Family Budget

Maintaining a budget not only helps you keep a check on overspending but also facilitates greater transparency to make better financial decisions. Families must discuss finances and set-up budget to closely monitor income v expense. Here are some best practices on managing family budget: 

Plan a budget:

Tracking your family’s earning & expenditure is the stepping stone towards living on a budget. Collect all your paycheck, bills, bank statement and everything else that demonstrates cash coming in or going out. Manage your finances by documenting your budget.

Remember, if you don’t have a budget in place, you are missing opportunities to cut unwanted expenses that could have been converted to savings. Spending some time on creating a budget now can save you big afterward.

Talk about budgeting & saving with your children:

Learning how to save while raising a family is not all about dads and moms. You can also get your children involved with regular budget talks. Though you don’t need to get deep into your earning or expenditure, going over the basics of spending & saving is not a bad idea at all. Things kids learn about money when they are younger can make use of it later when raising families of their own.

Set financial goals:

When saving money and paying monthly bills look out of reach for you, setting financial goals is a critical step in safeguarding the future of your family. Give equal importance to your short-term goals as well. You can cut back on your cable bills, mobile bill, utility bills and other expenditures that are coming on your way to saving more every month. 

Plan for financial emergencies:

Even the most financially comfortable of families feel the heat of a financial crisis. Establish an emergency fund to have saving for unforeseen expenditures. Getting insurance coverage and setting up emergency funds in your bank accounts are stepping stones to plan for financial emergencies.

Reduce your taxes:

By making some simple modifications, you can have better control on your taxes & add to your household’s budget. Picking the appropriate filing status, knowing about present tax rules on claiming dependents, making use of the child tax credit and taking gain of childcare and dependent care expenditures are some of the tax guidelines you must be awake of every year when it is time to file. Ensure you don’t overspend on taxes every year.

For more such financial tips for families, get in touch with Sunil Chugh – Certified Financial Planner in Mississauga. 

Disclaimer: The information in this commentary is for informational purposes only and not meant to be personalized investment advice. Please contact your investment professional for investment advice and before investing in any product. ACPI does not publish market research and Sunil Chugh is not registered as a research analyst. The content is from sources believed to be accurate and the opinions expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of ACPI