How to Optimize your Family’s Finances
Friday, January 29, 2016, 6:00 AM | Leave Comment
Back in your single days, your monetary concerns affected you and you alone. However, now that you have a family, you are worried about ensuring that everyone has a healthy, safe and comfortable lifestyle.
While taking charge of the family’s finances is a prodigious task, it is one that you must accomplish.
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Limit Discretionary Spending
One of the biggest problems that your family probably encounters is usage of extra funds. Instead of putting that money away for a vacation or for major home repairs, you find yourselves heading out to dinner every night of the weekend or squandering the money on fancy coffee beverages.
The best way to determine how much you are spending on such items is to track them.
Make a list of all your discretionary expenses. Then, put together a budget and assess your costs for living. Determine how much each family member can spend per month.
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Teach Children How to Use Money Wisely
Even if you and your partner are good with money, your kids may be spending more than you could have ever imagined. Giving them a small allowance each week can help them learn how to handle money.
When they grow older, you may want to provide them with checks and at least some access to their bank accounts.
If they use up all of their money for the week, do not give them more. Doing so will teach them how to budget and to save for the things that they really want.
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Enroll in Automatic Savings
Each week when you receive your paycheck, you may say that you are going to save whatever portion of the money you don’t use by the time Sunday comes around.
However, because you have those funds, you may prove more likely to use them. Instead, having a portion of every paycheck deposited directly into your savings account.
When you do not see the money, you may completely ignore the possibility that you have to spend it, leaving you with more funds at the end of the month.
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Use Cash
While carrying too much cash, especially in certain neighborhoods or situations, comes with some problems, consider the benefits of using cash to pay for purchases as opposed to taking out your credit or debit card.
With a debit card, you may not realize how much you are spending. The costs may not feel as real since you aren’t handing over actual cash.
When it comes to credit cards, you can end up creating a huge amount of debt for yourself.
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Plan for Future Expenses
For many families, the short term is all that they can see when it comes to money. They want to go somewhere next weekend or next month, so they focus on saving up for that.
However, you also need to consider the long-term financial health of your family.
For example, if you are planning to have a child soon, you should prepare for the expenses that come along with doing so, including daycare.
On the other hand, if your children will graduate from high school in a few years, you should begin to discuss how you are planning to pay for college.
Think about how your present finances would be if you had taken the time years ago to plan for the future. Chances are, you would be in a better situation than you are in now.
You must pay attention to the financial needs of your family. Do not wait until the situation gets worse or until you are in desperate need of money.
Take the time to create a more optimal situation for yourself as soon as your next paycheck comes in.
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