7 mistakes when keeping a family budget and how to avoid them

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

You cannot completely give up entertainment, not set long-term goals and not save.

Mistake 1. Make large purchases not from savings, but on credit

Lada and Maxim take their daughter to the sea every summer. To do this, they take a loan or borrow from friends. The remaining 11, 5 months are just enough for them to pay off their debts and buy the next tour. On credit. Permanent loans deprive the family of the opportunity to develop financially, because both current and future income go to pay for the vacation.

What to do

Set aside 10–20% of family income monthly for large purchases. For example, if you start postponing for the next one immediately after returning from vacation, then you can save up for a decent tour in a year. And you will not have to overpay interest on loans.

Mistake 2: Thinking You Don't Need a Contingency Fund

Oleg and Sveta make good money. They go on vacation twice a year, prepare their son for college and keep a purebred dog. Last month, a misfortune happened in the family: one of the grandmothers fell ill. Sveta had to take a vacation at her own expense to take care of the patient. As a result, the family budget has almost halved, while expenses have increased dramatically.

What to do

Create a reserve fund in advance and put at least 10% of income on a monthly basis in a separate account. Financial advisors recommend having a safety cushion equal to the family's expenses for 3-6 months. For example, if you spend 50 thousand rubles a month, then the reserve fund must be at least 150 thousand.

Withdraw money from this account only in case of large unforeseen expenses and replenish the spent as soon as possible. For convenience, use the accumulation services ("Sberbank's Piggy Bank", "Alfa-Bank's Savings") and applications for transferring money between accounts (for example, "From card to card" from "Tinkoff").

Mistake 3. Planning expenses for less than a year

Olya and Misha have been conscientiously running the budget for four months. They record income and expenses, try not to make rash purchases. In August it was time to get my son to school, and then, as luck would have it, the car insurance ended. Olya had to skip a month of classes in the art studio in order not to get into debt.

What to do

• Analyze the budget for the last 3-4 months. Answer the questions:

  • Which expenditure items are overblown? Why?
  • Are there any "lost" amounts?
  • What can you save painlessly on?
  • Can spending be reallocated to start saving?
  • If expenses exceeded income, then why did this happen?
• Calculate all the required expenses for the year ahead and set aside 1/12 of the resulting amount every month.
• Plan monthly and annual payments: rental housing, insurance, taxes, loans.

Mistake 4. Not using property that can generate income

The family of Slava and Katya has two cars, and the driver's license is one. Slava drives one car, and the second is gathering dust in a removable garage. The family spends money on rent every month, and the car loses in value every year.

What to do

Sell unnecessary vehicles and get rid of garage rent, and save the money, invest, or spend on education.

Follow the same principle with other property that is not used: sell old bicycles and strollers, rent out empty apartments and summer cottages. To do this, it is enough to take a photo and place an ad on one of the services:

• Avito, "Yula" - private message boards: you can sell and rent anything;
• Airbnb - rent out a property;
• Rent A Ride - rent a car.

Mistake 5. Refuse from electronic assistants

Lyudmila has been managing the family budget for five years. To do this, she collects receipts for all purchases, and writes down other expenses on multi-colored stickers, which she then sticks in a prominent place. At the end of the week, she writes down all expenses in different colors in her own table. And everything would be fine if the receipts were not lost, the children didn’t take the multicolored pens, and the notebook didn’t disappear at the wrong moment.

What to do

Install an application for home bookkeeping on a smartphone or computer. Here are some popular apps available for Android, iOS, and Windows devices:

• Monefy … Allows you to quickly add income and expenses by category. Statistics for the selected period are shown in the form of a pie chart.
• CoinKeeper … It has a lot of useful functions, including making spending in one motion, recognizing SMS transactions from banks and a reminder of mandatory payments. Allows you to set a limit on expenses and save up for large purchases.

Application not found

• Zen Mani … The service is able to recognize the operations of mobile banks, electronic money systems and load data from SMS notifications. Allows you to scan QR codes of checks. In the paid version, you can manage your personal and family budgets at the same time.
• "Drebedengi" … In addition to distributing income and spending by category, it will help you plan your budget and make a shopping list. There is a function for recognizing SMS from the bank.
• Toshl … Supports 200 currencies, including cryptocurrencies, reminds you to pay bills and calculates tips in a restaurant on your own. Able to upload reports to Google Docs, Excel and PDF. You will manage the budget in the company of sociable monsters who give advice, praise for saving and warn about overspending.

Toshl Finance - expenses, income and budgets Toshl Inc.

Toshl Finance - Toshl Inc.

5 more convenient programs for keeping a family budget →

Mistake 6. Not setting long-term goals

Nikita and Marina are young parents. They know how important it is to plan for personal expenses and even try to keep a budget from time to time. But something bothers them all the time: now they are too lazy to fill out the plate, then they accidentally throw out the checks, then the savings for two months will be spent on buying a TV in the kitchen.

What to do

• Form a long-term goal. It should be clear and directly related to finance. Not a vague “happily ever after”, but “in five years we live in a new house” or “in two years we have our own car service”. It is important that the goal is not fictional, but real. Such that it warms up instead of an unbought fur coat and every day encourages planning and self-organization.
• Make a plan to achieve the goal: how much to save, what items of expenditure to cut and where to find additional sources of income.

Mistake 7. Completely cancel the "entertainment" article

Sasha is a very purposeful girl. Determined to buy an apartment, she made a detailed plan: what, where and why to spend, how much to save. Sasha decided that you can watch a movie at home, it's healthier to cook food yourself, and a subscription to the Philharmonic will wait until better times. A year later, the doctor advised Sasha to urgently take a vacation and fly to the sea, until the neurosis had to be treated with medications.

What to do

• In economy mode, it is worth reducing the amount of entertainment, but not giving up at all. For example, to cut the number of visits to cafes from three times a week to three times a month. Or alternate outings with home gatherings.
• Use services to find free or low-cost entertainment. For example, there are many workshops and seminars on Timepad.

Despite the fact that only 54% of Russian families conduct family budget planning.

How do Russians manage their income? family budget, this is not so difficult. Set goals, but on the way to them, do not go to extremes, denying yourself everything. Consider a budget for many months ahead. Build up an airbag and set aside for big purchases and trips.