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Family Budget
FINAL THOUGHTS ON SETTING UP A FAMILY
BUDGET
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None of us want to remain or be
without money, short on cash,
cash-strapped and not able to live
well and or get the things we need,
dream about and want. Family
budgeting brings us one-step closer
to our fiscal realities, while
offering more than the direction and
route, but also the tools and
techniques to get to fiscal nirvana!
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Most of us have an inherent want
to protect what is rightfully ours.
Our hard-earned cash is no exception
here. We want to enable, as far as
it is in our power, to utilize what
little (or much) we do have to the
best advantage and our family
benefit overall. Family budgeting
helps us do so with method,
structure, elements and processes
that enable success.
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Family budgeting can assist have
and have nots alike make better
financial decisions with a future
perspective always in mind.
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Building greater awareness of
where our money actually goes, or
ends up, can be enlightening and
empowering at the same time.
Some react with shock and horror, as
they realize they are their own
worst enemy. They bear witness to
impulse-driven shopping and periods
with no fiscal discipline. Realizing
that this course of action hurt you
and your family in the long run,
puts a sudden halt on the money
flowing out typically! (even if the
effect does not last too long!)
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Although family budgeting can be
overwhelming at first, the tools and
techniques, process and steps to
follow are fairly simple,
straightforward and easy. Like so
often said, it is not rocket
science! We just need to have the
right attitude, motivation and
persistence to see and follow things
through. Budget or bust!
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Family budgeting can help you get,
be and remain in control of your
money and family’s financial
situation. Be kind to your
pocketbook!
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Set aside time to work on your
household financials and budgeting
processes on a regular basis. Keep
it up to date and accurate. This way
you can spot problems early, react
quickly and come up with creative
solutions in the short-term to
address any issues, challenges or
shortfalls. Be on top of things.
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Family budgeting helps you know your
own financial facts. You will be
able to know, instinctively and
exactly what is going on with your
cash-balance without even looking at
your statement necessarily! A good
test to tell whether someone is
using a family budget for their
household is to have them write down
the exact amount they have in the
bank today, and as of now also on
their person, in their wallet. Add
the two and write down the total
right now.
What did you learn from this exercise?
Let us take it one-step further. What do
you owe? Include credit cards, car
financing, mortgage and other debt.
Subtract what you owe from what you
have. Have you learnt anything by doing
this simple exercise? For most of us the
answers would be astonishing! This
hands-on involvement and knowledge about
your finances helps some and not others.
For some of us just glancing at our
statement now and again, having no idea
as to what is in our wallets, is quite
all-right too. (That is, as long as you
are not finding ways to spend it without
realizing it!)
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In family budgeting, do not be
hesitant to set stretch-goals too.
Whether you get there by cost
cutting, taking a second, part-time
or seasonal job or find another
source of supplemental income, it
helps your raise the bar even
higher.
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Family budgeting is not just about
budgeting to the last cent and
flying by the seat of your pants. It
offers structure, wisdom, decision
making and reward for the serious
and tenacious amongst us. Taking it
on as a major and regular task and
priority will change your quality of
life, sometimes without you even
realizing it.
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You are in it for the long haul!
Take responsibility for spending. It
this means laying down some
ground-rules in your household and
cutting back on a couple of luxury
items, that needs to be discussed,
agreed upon and stuck to, to make
your budget work and have an impact
over time.
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Family budgeting is about minimizing
and totally avoiding if possible any
unexpected and deemed unnecessary
spending. Spell out the realities
and consequences of these purchases
to others – short on cash, family
tension, unnecessary stress and
complications, hardship and more.
Openly discussing it builds fiscal
responsibilities on all fronts. This
does not mean rigidity or
inflexibility. Need, merit, means
and circumstance will obviously
dictate.
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Family budgeting is also about
shared responsibility. All members
can participate – even the kids.
Taking responsibility for the
grocery bill for example. Mom is
responsible mainly for the weekly
outing to the store, but when it
comes to the staples like milk,
bread, eggs and cheese, one of the
teenagers can be entrusted with the
budget funds and task, help shop for
bargain, check flyers and more.
Setting house-rules about who gets
to pay for what and when is also
important when you have young adults
still living in the house or have
boarders. Family budgeting allows
the channel for discussion and
eventually mutual agreement on
financial goals and priorities.
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Perhaps the most important part of
all, is that family budgeting helps
us all learn where the money
actually goes, as opposed to where
we think it does or should go.
Normally very different things! The
initial realization of the amounts
(usually larger than we think!),
involved on incidental,
discretionary and impulse buying is
an eye-opener for most and ends up
saving families all kinds of money
they never knew they had. Just
brining that into the awareness and
our conscious mind tends to put a
stop to unnecessary expenditure.
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Mall crawling and hanging out in
retail stores to kill time, is
counter-productive and part of the
reason we spend frivolously. From
bookstores, to lottery tickets,
gourmet coffee, food-court lunch,
and a quick movie, items you do not
really need, but think you or your
spouse or kids would like leads to
hasty, flawed and almost distorted
decision making. The thought,
actions and actually purchases are
not budget-driven and money
conscious at all. All these things
add up over time. Smoking, daily
coffee (or two), buying candy,
chocolates, pop, magazines and more
to ‘kill time’ are all
money-guzzlers that should be
avoided.
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Other examples of incidental
money-guzzlers are parking meters,
donuts, shoe repair, ,raffle
tickets, fund-raising, car wash, pay
phone. Avoid it is probably
unrealistic, but family budgeting,
logging and tracking at least makes
us more aware of these categories
and ‘traps’. Have a category in your
budget for Miscellaneous and track
it for say 3-6-12 months and see how
it adds up!
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Beware the flyers, advertisements,
special discounted sales and other
retail or sales tricks of the trade
that tempt, entice and lure you in
to spend your precious dough!
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Keep on tracking spending and income
no matter what. A good tip for
family budgeting is, at least
initially, get a notebook and a pen
and write things down as opposed to
going to high-tech, spending money
to get it done etc. Avoid this being
or becoming just another unexpected
and unplanned expense! It is
supposed to help you, not hurt you.
Tools are great, but process and
results are better.
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Family budgeting help you focus on
the different types of expense you
and your family and household face.
The annual ones are the hardest, we
tend to put them on the back burner
and they tend to be larger amounts
too. Having them in your budget
assist us not forgetting there major
expenses like school fees, judo or
gym memberships, dance classes,
Christmas and birthday gifts,
babysitting or nanny-salaries and
more.
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Fiscal restraint, wise decisions,
weighing options, informed choice,
planned set and formulated goals and
projection estimates and steps to
get there, all work together in the
family budget, to get you back on
track and on the road to enjoying
your dollar-earnings.
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Initially, when setting up your
family budget probably for the first
time, it is acceptable when
estimating some of the expenditures
and cost to err on the higher side.
This will definitely show you where
you would need to cut back if you
had to add in budget line items or
budget for big purchases like
appliances, furnace replacement etc.
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Family budgets keep it real, in the
moment and us humble, on our toes
and accountable.
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Some realities we will have to live
with. Some fixed costs we are not
able to reduce right away or at all.
The fact of the matter is, we are on
the look-out and actively finding
other and innovative ways to cut
spending and costs that we would
otherwise not have been motivated
enough to do of our own accord.
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Surely, the most interesting effect
of the family budget on most people,
is revealing our personal spending
habits, preferences, weaknesses or
“buttons to push” my kids call them.
Family budgeting helps us to get to
know what they are and improve on
them.
Where and why, on what and how much are
all factors that impact while our money
keeps vanishing. We are most often the
biggest culprits here. Shopping
excursions should be minimized; they are
just a good excuse for buying
unnecessary items.
Overspending while with a group of
friends or peers are all too common
these days. Grocery bills hide a lot of
“sins” or impulse buying (chocolates,
chips, magazines, ice cream etc.). Also
knowing when during the year you tend to
spend more money, is also important –
bulk buying might be the answer. Think
juice and snacks when the kids are home
for summer for example. This also helps
people realize that funds should be
available almost year-round and that
life is unpredictable.
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Family budgeting is one of those
activities that none of us really
truly value, until we see or feel it
make a difference. If you stick with
it long enough, disciplined and
committed, you will experience the
dynamic impact and life-altering
influence and contribution of this
tool and process. Happy number
crunching! Have fun creating your
own family budget.
Therefore, for now, we will stop our
discussion here. Throughout these pages,
attempts were made to show the need,
benefits, nature, elements, advantages,
processes and techniques for family
budgeting that can get you started right
away, offering practical advice and
poignant suggestions that apply to your
unique situation, whatever that may be.
We trust it has been time well spent and
happy trails on your journey back to
fiscal control, independence and
empowered decision-making. PASS IT ON.
Some final thoughts, money saving
perspectives and inspirations:
"If saving money is wrong, I don't
want to be right!"
William Shatner
(Canadian Actor, Writer and Producer
most famous for starring Captain Kirk in
the television series Star Trek. b.1931)
"A simple fact that is hard to learn
is that the time to save money is when
you have some." Joe Moore
"Save a little money each month and
at the end of the year you'll be
surprised at how little you have" Ernest Haskins
Family Budget News:
Bing: family budget site:msnbc.msn.com
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