How to manage a family budget so that there is enough for everything: detailed instructions

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

Bills, food, entertainment, vacations - all of this requires finances. But there are still unforeseen expenses, and no one has canceled the airbag. Together with the National Project "" we figure out how to distribute the family budget so as not to be left without money by the end of the month.

What is family budget

This is not necessarily a common boiler, where all finances go. The budget can be different, but in general, it is accounting for the money earned by family members and planning expenses.

He will help you:

• calculate funds for a month, six months, a year;
• be prepared for unforeseen difficulties (the refrigerator broke down or neighbors flooded);
• plan large purchases;
• do not quarrel with family about money.

What does it consist of

Income

This is the salary of all working family members. This also includes interest on deposits, casual jobs and freelancing, gifts for the holidays, retirement benefits, social benefits and any other additional injections.

Expenses

The spending of all family members. This part of the budget is divided into several categories.

1. General expenses … Food, apartment bills, communication services, travel by public transport, car maintenance (if everyone uses it), family vacations, loans.
2. Unexpected expenses … Breakdown of plumbing or gadgets, getting medical attention, or other expenses that cannot be planned in advance.
3. Personal expenses … They are registered for each separately. This includes buying clothes and shoes, having fun with friends, scheduled visits to the doctor, getting an education, buying gifts, paying for sections and clubs for a child, spending on pets.

Before the beginning of the month, write down the approximate limits in each of the categories, so as not to accidentally spend more than you received.

Accumulation

Funds that remain after the distribution of money for expenses. The savings may include:

1. Airbag … Everyone needs it! These are the means that will save you in any financial difficulties: they will help to cover expensive treatment, survive a dismissal, and repair a stalled car. The size of the airbag should be at least three salaries: in order to painlessly accumulate it, you can save 10% of your income every month.
2. Money for large purchases … For example, vacation, car or new home.
3. Assets and valuable property … Investments, car, real estate - any value options. Such savings have bonuses - for example, investments can grow at the expense of interest and become sources of passive income.

Own housing gives a sense of stability and reduces monthly costs - you do not need to pay the landlord. It is profitable to purchase an apartment in a new building in any region of Russia until July 1, 2022 with mortgage lending. The rate for the entire term will be 7% or even less. The program allows you to choose an apartment in both under construction and ready-made housing. The only condition is that there must be a primary real estate market. The maximum loan amount is 3 million rubles, and the amount of the down payment is 15%.

What is the family budget

Separated

Each manages his salary as he wants, and the general expenses are paid in turn. This type of budget provides financial independence and protects against unnecessary approvals. But not always.

It is important to consider the level of income. If both partners have a good salary, a separate family budget is perfect for them. If the income is unequal, especially when one partner has it below the level of financial stability, this type of budget can lead to conflicts.

Also, in order to avoid quarrels with a separate budget, it is important to negotiate in advance the order of payment of common expenses, so as not to find yourself in a situation where both partners spent everything on themselves or children, and the bills remained unpaid.

Joint

All the money earned goes into the general budget. In joint financial management, there are two roles - the earner and the distributor. Partners can combine them or divide them among themselves. There is also a third option - one person takes care of all the financial issues. This is also normal if this situation suits everyone.

The shared family budget has two advantages:

1. It is as transparent as possible - everyone understands how much money is in the family and what they go to.
2. It makes it easier to save up for large purchases: a car, an apartment, a country house.

But there is also a minus - difficulties with a fair distribution of funds for personal expenses. It will be especially difficult to come to a common decision if the spouses have significantly different earnings or one of the partners does not earn at all.

Mixed

Combination of separate and shared budgets. Part of the salary remains with the family member who earned money, part goes to the common boiler. The first one covers personal expenses, the second one covers general expenses.

The only possible problem in this case is disputes over the amount of contributions to the common boiler. They must be commensurate with income and sufficient to cover all the necessary items of expenditure.

How to manage a family budget

The first step is to objectively assess the financial situation … To do this, within a month, write down income and each ruble spent in a spreadsheet or notebook: note the exact amount and what it went on.

Then add up expenses and compare them to income. So you can analyze how rationally the budget is spent, mark the articles that exceed the desired indicators, and see what you can save on.

Then proceed to family budget … To do this, you can independently make a pivot table in Excel or use ready-made tools in any mobile application for monitoring finances, for example, Zen-money, Toshl, Home Accounting. Try to predict the required amount of expenses for the next month and write down the limits. Then fill in real data regularly. The first couple of months, the numbers may not converge - do not worry, it takes time to grind.

Here are some helpful guidelines to help you control your budget.

1. Appoint a chief … Even if the budget is split, the total expenditure line remains. So that the refrigerator is not empty and the bills are paid on time, it is better that the most responsible family member is watching.
2. Create an account for general expenses … This way, the funds needed to pay for utilities will not go unnoticed on taxi rides, movies, or anything else.
3. Budget for a long time to come … For a quarter, six months or a year. This is important for large purchases: you will imagine how much money you need to set aside in order to have time to save for what was planned.

How to save

So that money does not fly away to anywhere and is not spent a month before the last penny, you can use various tricks.

1. Pay by cash or card with cashback … In the first case, it is more convenient to control the balance and it is more difficult to discreetly spend the excess. In the second, a part of the purchase price will be returned (in rubles or bonuses).
2. Refuse disposable bags … Replace them with a shopper - it costs more, but will last for several years. And in recalculation it will be cheaper than 50 or 100 disposable bags.
3. Maintain a shopping list … Make it up before every trip to the store so as not to be tempted by unnecessary things.
4. Cook lunch at home … It is more profitable than constantly going to a cafe or ordering delivery. In order not to stand at the stove every day, you can make blanks, freeze them and take them out as needed.
5. Search for discounts and promotions … This includes checking specials in supermarkets, buying travel tickets in advance, and keeping an eye on seasonal sales.

To buy an apartment in a new building on a mortgage with preferential terms, you just need to choose a home and contact one of the banks participating in preferential mortgages. And there are more than 60 of them. The borrower has the right to choose any convenient and suitable one according to the conditions. Any adult resident of Russia can buy real estate this way: there are no requirements for marital status and wealth in the program. The ownership of another apartment is also irrelevant. Important: additional requirements may be set by the lenders.

What to save on

The job of the family budget is to optimize income and expenses, not keep as much money as possible intact. Therefore, you should not deny yourself everything, in particular, do something from this list:

• Spare money on health … The disease can progress over time, and treatment can only become more expensive.
• Don't pay bills … It's not scary to miss one month, but then interest will start to drip, and if you tighten it completely, water or electricity can turn off.
• Buy cheap clothes and shoes just because of the price … If the item is of poor quality, does not fit into your wardrobe, or you don’t like it at all, it will quickly go to the dump or gather dust in the closet. Better to pay extra for quality right away.
• Deprive yourself of all entertainment … Saving on vacation can lead to accumulated fatigue. And in such a state it is very difficult to preserve the resource. In addition, there is a risk at some point to break loose and spend all the savings on entertainment.