Some families have budgets and some do not. Those families with
budgets can better manage their money than those who do not. I
would recommend any family with children to have a budget. Here
are a few steps for planning a budget. 1. Get a list of all your
bills that are due each month. Also get the dates that each bill
is due on. It is always best to plan your budget by the month.
2. Organize those bills by the date that they are due on. Ex.
Electric bill due on the 2nd, the phone bill due on the 7th, and
the cable bill due on the 17th. And so on. 3. See how many pay
days are in the month that you are planning for. Then figure how
much money you will make on each pay day and times it by the
number of pay days. Ex. 4 pay days times $500.00 per pay day
equals $2000.00 4. Figure up how much your bills are all
together. Divide that by the number of pay days that you have
for that month. This will give you an idea of what you are going
to have to pay each week. If there is going to be a week where
you won't have to pay put that much take it out anyway and put
it into your savings. That way if something comes up and I
promise you one time or another something unexpected will come
up. If you put money back when you have it extra you can be
prepared for those unexpected moments without having to charge
your credit cards. 5. Write down each pay day and the bills that
you will be paying on that particular day. That way you will
know exactly what will need to be paid and when. Place it where
ever you pay your bills. Or if you don't have a specific place
you do your bills place it on the refrigerator. 6. Stick to your
budget no matter what. Do not stray from your budget. Each pay
day have those bills made out and ready to send off. I know that
it can be easy to think I will just pay this one next week, but
once you get behind it is too hard to catch back up. So by all
means stick to your budget. If you have a budget that works for
you and your family you will have more money left over each
month to do something special with your family. My family makes
it a point to do something special each month as a family. If we
did not have a budget we would not be able to do that special
something together. There is nothing like spending time and
getting to do something special with your family.
About the author:
Shannon Miller is the mom of 5 children. Be sure and stop by her
sites for free information and advice on parenting.
www.parentingfroma-z.com and
www.asthmainfosite.com
