If you’re left wondering where all your weekly money disappeared to, it has most likely vanished into the mysterious void often known as household expense. It is a common misconception to underestimate the humble household budget as opposed to say investing in a home or buying a car.
Budgeting for better savings without compromising on quality of living involves some careful thought and planning. As the old adage goes: It’s not what you make but what you do with what you make.
Get a handle on your household budget and learn how to stop the monetary outflow with the following tips.
- Keep written or type-written records: Though this may sound rather cliched, it’s amazing how few people actually get around to following this piece of sensible advice. It’s not possible to remember where you spent money and how much on a day to day basis. It’s a much better idea to commit the data to a diary or an excel sheet.
- Shop in bulk: large sizes often cost much less than smaller packs. Detergent, cooking oil, sugar or rice: Buying in bulk will cost less and won’t go waste – after all you will use it now or two weeks hence.
- Use discount coupons and offers: It’s a common tendency to discard any coupon that offers say $5 off a product. But little expenses do add up. So preserve those coupons for your next purchase.
- Separate regular monthly expenses: Expenses such as phone bills or the TV cable payment that recur on a monthly basis should have a separate budget allotted to them. This way you get to identify the remaining amount available for other unexpected expenses.
- Exchange DVDs, books and CD’s with neighbors and friends: This will work out cheaper than purchasing or renting your own all the time.
- Switch on the heater at specific times: Purchasing an automatic timer can help keep energy expenses under control by minimizing uncontrolled use.
- Investigate phone and internet companies to find out which one gives the best value for money. There is often a significant disparity in rates that can end up costing quite a bit.
- Budgeting for better savings requires constant vigilance, supervision and focus. But it comes with steady practice. An individual can save as much as 300 to 400 dollars per month by following these seemingly simple household budget tips. But if you do the math $ 300 per month is $3600 dollars in a year and $36,000 in 10 years – all from savings on the household.