Family Budget Basics
It's not always easy to meet our financial obligations each month, and that's where creating a family budget can help. Nearly every day, we have multiple financial demands placed upon us. Whether it is grocery shopping or paying the monthly electric bill, we're faced with family budget decisions all the time.
Family Budgeting
It's sometimes difficult to deal with financial planning matters such as family budgeting. There is one more bill to pay, or a big decision needs to be made on an expensive family vacation. But no matter how people might try to deny it, this is a hard rule of life:
We make decisions all the time that affect our ability to stay out of debt. Additional Resources
Household Budget
…show more content…
Family Budget Worksheets
We have created two more family budget worksheets. The aims of these worksheets are to help you compare your budget to that of an average family. Using information gathered by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, we've put together the following tools to help prepare and guide you through the process of creating a family budget. The nice thing about our budget tools is that you don't need any special software to get started.
Family Budget Calculator
If you want to make a simple comparison of your monthly family expenses, or your annual expenses against that of an average family, then your first stop should be our family budget calculator. This calculator allows you to input your monthly or annual expenses in each of fourteen different areas.
The budget calculator then compares your family's spending pattern, or budget, against those of an average family as measured by a survey conducted by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
This family budget calculator helps you to figure out how your family expenses compare to an average family's expenses. Using information from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, this calculator allows you to input your monthly or annual expenses in each of 14 different categories, the calculator then figures out the percentage spent in each category and compares your budget to the national average. Family Budget
After knowing your budget, you must know what your family needs. For example, the size of the house, how many bedrooms, washrooms, etc. is essential to know before you even start looking for a house. In addition, you should only buy and pay for what you need. It would be a total waste of money if you buy a house in which there are five bedrooms and four washrooms when you have a family
Shim, J., & Siegel, J., & Shim, A., (4th edition)(2012). Budgeting basics and beyond. Retrieved from http://wow.coursesmart.com/9781118096277/firstsection
My family works off a budget called “Dave Ramsey’s Monthly Cash Flow Plan.” Dave Ramsey is a financial personality who helps families rebuild their budgets and pay off debt. I talked to both my parents about how we budget our money. My mother does most of the financial work, mainly because she is an accountant, but once she’s done, she talks to my dad about it, and occasionally, my brother and I. While asking these questions, I found out that we spend a large amount of money in only one week. In one week, any random expense could come up, and a major expense could be due.
4. Taking the poverty-line calculation for a family of three, explore whether that level of income can actually provide for all basic needs. Determine the monthly minimum wage ($1,256), then estimate the amount a family of three would spend in a month
A budget is something I take as seriously as education: without it, you’d be nowhere but miserable. My mother racked up a lot of debt before leaving my dad and I. She was and is legally supposed to send child support, but she never has. My dad spent until 2008 trying to repay the debt she left us with while she was living in Hawaii buying multiple cars and living in luxury. When I was old enough to understand this, I promised myself that I would never go into debt if I could help it. At my school, Personal Finance is a graduation requirement; while some students were complaining that we were only watching Dave Ramsey “ramble on”, I took it with all seriousness. I would rather listen to Dave Ramsey talk about budgeting on the radio in exchange of not going $60,000 in debt and losing my house because the payments are too steep. As Calvin Coolidge once said, “The only way I know of escape from that constant tragedy is to keep running expenses low enough so that something may be saved to meet the day when earnings may be small.” Knowing that President Coolidge not only shared this value, but practiced it in everyday life as well, made me respect him even more than I already
For all you educators out there trying to figure out how this might fit in your curriculum or how this won't be a huge additional workload, check out some of these budget challenge lesson plans and student activities. No need to recreate the wheel with this challenge! You should also check out the educational games H$R Block has created to help teach and raise awareness of personal finance.
My personal finances are solid and on track with my attitudes towards money and savings. This budget exercise is common practice for me as I keep track of every dollar I spend. I am a saver and I keep track of my savings using a spreadsheet and updating my information almost every day. Budgeting is a necessary step in order to figure out where exactly money is going and how much of it is being allocated to different items.
For my budget Worksheet I included everything that me and my family do that I will probably carry on in college. Income, I put $370 a month because at this point in time i have a job that pays every two weeks and its usually about $185 if you get enough hours, so monthly its approximately $370. $370 a month is about $4440 a year. With $4440 a year it may seem difficult to live, but in my current situation I know the major expenses I will have, thanks to the fact of I love planning ahead.
things I used to find out my budget was groceries ($2,280 /yr), buying a car ($33,000), paying
The balance sheet on excel allowed me to estimate my monthly budget of approximately $350 after fixed costs are considered. I was then able to produce a monthly spending plan using data from excel. My monthly spending plan included:
Personal Budget Exercise – Excel Creating a spreadsheet track personal business expenses is an excellent use of Microsoft Excel. For this exercise, you will create a spreadsheet to enter a personal budget and track actual expenses for the year. You may choose to use real data or create a fictitious budget using a monthly income amount of $2,500. Here are suggested budget categories if you are not using a real budget. At a minimum, you must have 9 budget categories: Housing (mortgage or rent) Utilities Car payment Insurance Student Loans Food Misc. Entertainment Gas Savings
In conclusion, budgeting isn't just for the poor or when the household income is limited and there are major changes in the financial situation. Budgeting can be a solution to anyone who
Establish your budget. Are you looking for an easy way to begin? On the first day of a new month, get a receipt for everything you purchase. Stack the receipts into categories like restaurants, groceries, and personal care. At the end of the month you will be able to clearly see where your money is going.
A budget refers to a financial plan that represents the allocation of the income to various expenditure channels such as expenses, savings, and debt repayment. A personal budget is important because avoiding financial surprises and keeping financial stress down helps avoid a crisis and allows you to focus on your overall goals. You cannot avoid all risks in life but if you plan your finances to live within your means, you can avoid being kicked out of your home, losing your car and other terrible things that a solid budget would help you avoid. Knowing what you can afford is a central life skill. Unfortunately, many do not budget even though they know they should (Wagoner, 2012).
Personal budgeting is an important factor in regards to successful long term financial stability. Budgeting has many great aspects as well as showing areas of weakness. It can show the truth about your personal financial spending habits, areas that are not looked at enough, and if there are needs for a larger emergency fund. The reality of personal budgeting is that many people potentially do not keep a personal budget for one reason or another. People also don’t consider the negative effect that it could have on one personally and or how it effects the economy.