If you’re the one tasked with running a household, knowing where your money comes and goes is critical. Feeding the family, paying for children’s school tuition, and having to deal with emergency expenses such as house repairs or ER visits—if you don’t keep track of these expenses, you’ll soon find yourself wondering where all of your money has gone, not only to your detriment but to your entire family’s.
You may initially be hesitant to keep a system for your family budgeting because you’re scared of spreadsheets or any confusing math involved, but there are ways for you to stay on top of your expenses without adding additional stress to your plate. Just remember that the sooner you start tracking your family expenses in an organized way, the better it will be for your family’s short- and long-term finances. Here are some easy family budgeting strategies you can try as early as today:
1) Check Your Account Statements Regularly
Your bank keeps a detailed record of every financial transaction you make. These records track your expenses over a defined period, usually per month, quarter, or year. Being conscientious about checking your account statements will give you a better idea of what you’ve been spending your money on. Make sure to regularly check the purchase history on your credit card in the Philippines if you have one, and take note of the regular monthly payments you typically make with it.
2) Use Mobile Banking and Wallet Apps
Once upon a time, requesting your account statements used to be a more complicated process. You either had to contact your bank’s customer service through email or phone call or physically go to the bank and make the transaction there.
But now, thanks to the rise of mobile banking apps, checking your past expenses is but a few taps away. Mobile wallet apps often have the same feature, allowing you to manage your money with just your phone. If you haven’t already, make the use of these banking and wallet apps part of your regular budgeting and tracking habit for your family.
3) Keep Your Receipts
The best way to keep track of household-related purchases that you made in cash is to keep all of your receipts, as they’re your only proof of purchase. To prevent clutter, consider only keeping all of your receipts for one week, then gather them all so that you can consolidate and record them. You can toss them once they’ve been accounted for and begin collecting your receipts again for the upcoming week.
4) Download a Budgeting and Expense Tracking App
Expense tracking methods have grown and evolved with the rise of technology, and now you can easily find which one works best for your family’s lifestyle and preferences. One of the most popular ways to track your expenses is by downloading a budgeting app. Many are designed to be simple and accessible, allowing you to budget wherever and whenever.
You can set up most budgeting and expense tracking apps by creating expense categories, then setting spending limits on each category so that you can start making expense entries. Log entries immediately after making purchases so that it won’t be hard to account for every transaction.
5) Try Other Expense Tracking Methods
If you don’t think using an expense tracking app is for you, you can always try a different method entirely. There are countless templates for Google Sheets and Microsoft Excel that you can use, many of which are designed to be easy to use.
Furthermore, if you think that a more traditional method may suit you better, you can write down your expenses in a dedicated budgeting notebook. This method is certainly more manual than the others, but if using it makes budgeting easier for you, then feel free to use it to your advantage.
6) Find an Effective Budgeting Method for Your Family Expenses
Knowing where your money goes is only half the battle. Effective expense tracking also requires effective budgeting—i.e., setting spending limits and adhering to them so that you can actually grow your family savings.
A reliable budgeting method can help you organize your money, stay below your spending limits, pay off any monthly bills, and save a good amount of money every month. An example of a classic budgeting method is the 50/30/20 rule: put aside 50 percent of your income towards needs, such as rent and other bills; 30 percent towards wants, such as recreational spending; and 20 percent towards savings, especially towards specific financial goals. You can adjust these numbers to your liking, but this basic method helps make money management easier and less time-consuming.
7) Set Financial Goals for Your Family
Lastly, budgeting and expense tracking for your family will become easier when you have a clear goal that you want to reach. What big purchase do you want to make, and how much time do you have to save up money for it?
For example, you can start saving up for your child’s college tuition now, even if they still have a few years to go before then. Or, you could start saving up for a newly-built house so that your family has a stable and reliable home to use even decades after you’ve bought it. Make sure to also set up an emergency fund as a safety net; a typical emergency fund is worth 3 to 6 months of your expenses, which you can slowly build up with your savings.
Much of the initial stress you might feel about budgeting for your family may come from a lack of a proper system or knowledge about the tools and solutions available to you. With specific tracking and budgeting practices in place, plus consistency and discipline from everyone who is involved with the family’s finances, it will soon be like second nature to keep abreast of and properly attend to the family’s financial health.
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