Page 13 - Indulge August 2017

How to create a food, transportation, utilities and other monthly bills like
household budget student loan payments. Be thorough in this examination and
you should get an idea of how you’re spending your money
Household budgets can help families thrive and and where you can make any cuts.
survive should unforeseen financial issues arise.
Establishing a household budget is no small task, as Behaviors
numerous factors must be considered to come up with a Be honest with your spending. Are you prone to
budget that secures families’ futures without sacrificing
their everyday quality of life. impulse shopping? Can you cut back on certain daily
expenses, such as morning cups of coffee from the coffee
Finances shop or restaurant lunches? While you might have little
First determine how much money is coming in and how leeway with regard to large expenses like car and housing
payments, you can likely save substantial amounts of
much money is in savings. Then make a list of the family’s money by cutting back on small, daily expenses that can
financial obligations, including costs associated with housing, add up to substantial amounts of money over time.

Determining a need versus a want
Once you see how you behave financially, you can

then make a list of those daily and monthly expenses
that qualify as a need and those that fall into the “want”
category. For example, morning coffee might be a need,
but why not brew that coffee at home and take it with you
rather than buying a costly cup at the coffee shop near
your office each day? You can keep some of the items that
fall onto your want list as a daily or monthly reward, but
try to eliminate those that are compromising your monthly
finances. And remember to include contributions to a
savings account in your list of needs.

Build your budget
Stick to your budget for a month and then assess

how you and your family adjusted. While the adjustment
might prove difficult at first, by the end of the first
month you might notice any financial-related stress you
had been feeling has begun to dissipate, and you might
even make an effort to tighten the purse strings a little
more as you look to save more money.

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August 2017 • indulge | 13