Take Charge of Your Family Finances
December 31st, 2009
Maintaining a regular assessment of your family finances is essential to the family’s financial welfare. Here are some guidelines to control your household finances.
Credit Card Use
Use your credit if you have one. However, remember to pay your outstanding balance, not the minimum amount, before its due. Use your credit card wisely.
Rule of Thumb
Household expenses should be lower than 33% of household income. If it is higher, think of cutting down your expenses. Here are some tips to lower your expenses.
1. Cleaning of air-conditioners should be done regularly.
2. When you do the laundry, do it full load.
3. Put thimbles on your taps
Allocate Book Keeping Reponsibilities to Your Kids
If you have kids, share them a simple task in book keeping, like data-entry. This will make them understand basic financial principles. Moreover, it will also give them a sense of responsibility and promotes good financial practice.
Keep a File of Your Financial Statements
Take note of your finances. Have a notebook or a ledger. If you have an access to a computer, organize the physical bills and statements by putting everything into a spreadsheet. You don’t even have to pay cash for a spreadsheet.
The following tips will help you organize your financial statements.
1. Keep soft copies of bills and statements, if available. This will save time from entering data.
2. Save your files and have back-up of them. You can use CD-R or thumb drive. Then keep them in a safe place.
Plan Your Finances
If you have a littlle source of income, and there is only one person working in your family, think of getting an insurance plan for the breadwinner. Financial worries are not something your family should cope with in the event the sole breadwinner is incapacitated.
Make It a Routine
When you are not doing your task, it piles up. Set aside 30-60 minutes each week to maintain your finances.
Learn more about a premier Housing Loan advisory firm, providing Housing Loans with free mortgage broking.
Leave a Reply