It is getting harder and harder each week to balance the family budget, let alone save money at home. Interest rates are rising, fuel is getting more expensive and with the drought (for those in Australia) the price of food is going up and up … Financial hardship is becoming more common.
With some careful planning you can save money at home. None of this will be rocket science. Just plain common sense from someone who has had to live on a shoe-string budget for a few years now. People’s situations will differ – one parent, no income, two parents and one income, kids, no kids etc. Whatever the combination, it is fair to say, that nearly all are feeling the pinch.
My first foray into blog writing about saving money at home has to be about BUDGETING. Before any money-saving can begin you must see ON PAPER the amount of money coming in each week and where it is going. This is not a simple 5 minute job – it will probably take one whole evening but is absolutely VITAL. Once this has been done then you can start to target areas of over-spending and start to save money at home.
I like to keep things simple. Get a big piece of paper and list down one side all the expenses you can think of. Make sure to include all those pesky once-a-year bills. Allow for slight increases in electricity, gas, water etc. You will need to get out your accounts from last year. Sit down and write the amounts for each service – gas etc. Don’t use the first gas bill you come across as this won’t be accurate, get the a year's worth. E.g. I have gas heating – obviously my summer bills for gas are much lower than in winter.
I do estimate some bills. My food bill each week varies, so this one will have to be a realistic ‘guesstimate’. Add the bills for each category and then divide by 52 to get a weekly cost. I find this easier to get my head around.
I’ll list some of the things that you should consider putting in – you may think of more.
Car insurance, car maintenance, car registration, fuel, driver's licence, automobile association membership, house insurance, home maintenance, food, school fees, school uniforms, education plan for kids, clothes, kid's clothes, vet bills, haircuts, phone/internet, mobile phone, council rates, health insurance, money for out of pocket medical expenses, collection money for Church, presents, gas, electricity, water, entertainment, holidays, professional memberships, alcohol, cigarettes, mortgage, income protection insurance, spending money, music lessons, swimming lessons, miscellaneous.
This list may sound confronting but try and include absolutely everything and allow a little extra in the budget for increases in fees/prices.
Now look at the weekly total versus your weekly income. Hopefully your income exceeds expenditure. If not you obviously need to cut back and listing the amounts on paper will certainly highlight where your money disappears. We can all cut back in areas with simple things and in coming posts I will give some ideas about this.
For an excellent resource I have come across on how to escape debt, live cheaply, saving money etc Click Here!
I’ll write again later with more ideas on how we can save money at home whilst still managing to eat, live and stay sane!
