7 Tips For Building A Family Budget

For many families, staying within a budget can be challenging. If sticking to a budget seems impossible, then don't worry - there are many ways to stretch your household budget and still enjoy a quality lifestyle.
Some budgets will work well for your family, but others may not. If one technique doesn't work for you, then don't give up. Try another technique - after all, it's worth some trial and error to get you to your financial freedom.
Here are some strategies for managing your family's budgets

1. Use the Envelope System. Grab a bunch of envelopes, mark each one with a designated expense, and put in an allotted allowance for each expense. Use this money to pay for groceries, dry cleaning, eating out - and when you're done, you're done until the next month.
2. Freeze Your Credit Cards. It's true, you can freeze your credit cards n a block of water if that's what it takes to deter you from using. It's too easy to forget the true costs of the things you buy when you just swipe your card. Don't feel guilty about falling for this trick; the easiest way to combat it is to keep your cards hidden away. Only bring them out when they're truly needed.
3. Use Cash. Pay with your hard earned cash and you'll stop to think about what you're buying. Not a fan of carrying cash? Then opt for using your debit card. Just remember to stay on top of your balance so you don't overdraw your account.
4. Cut Back. Yes, you can pinch back the family budget - without feeling pinched. Set aside an hour or two one day and call your service providers for phone, cable and cell phone. Discuss different lower cost plans. Maybe you can switch to a lower cell phone plan or forgo HBO.
5. Grocery Shopping. You can save money on groceries without carrying a huge binder of coupons. Always shop from a list. Plan out a menu for the week and shop for those items. Look for sales and stock up on basic items that you know a lot. Look at your bills over two or three months and figure out a weekly average. Try to spend that or less each week. And don't be afraid to look at coupons. Sometimes it pays to plan your weekly menus around sales items.
6. Budget for a Splurge Item. It's ok to spend money on something you really want - as long as you stay within your budget. Set aside a separate savings account or envelope for this splurge. Write down some items you might like to treat yourself and when it's time to reward yourself, look at the list, look at your budget and go shopping guilt free.
7. Great Crafty. Gift giving occasions aren't just confined to the major holidays and birthdays - between mother's day and Valentine's Day there are a lot of times gifts are expected. But you don't have to blow your budget buying presents for other people. Learn to make some homemade gifts - from a special baked good, to homemade soap or bath salts, there are a lot of thoughtful low cost gifts to give. Add some pretty packaging and you've delivered a truly one of a kind present.

Keep Tweaking the Family Budget
If you're still having trouble balancing the household budget, it's important to keep trying new things until you have a system that works for you. The goal is to create a budget so you can save money for your future, while still having fun with your family today. A sound family budget plan will help you take control of your finances and lead you to freedom.

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Planning Retirement? Improve Your Financial Success

Planning your retirement? Here is a short task list to complete before you skip out the door that will help with your finances. These should be done in partnership with a financial planner to eliminate any mis-steps that could have far reaching consequences.
Create An Asset Allocation Strategy You are Comfortable With. Spreading your investments in your retirement accounts in a variety of holdings will help you deal with the ups and downs of the stock and bond market, and keep your savings somewhat stable. Traditional investment strategies suggest that the younger you are, the more risk you can absorb. Those who are preparing for retirement should consider shifting to a more conservative mix. Many financial planners are suggesting target-date mutual funds, based upon age group, which gradually get more conservative as the investor gets closer to retirement. It also is important to remember that your money may have to last 25 - 30 years, so it is important that the allocation strategy is not too conservative as you move into retirement. You will need to keep up with inflation.
Only you know what you are comfortable with, so talk to your financial planner.  Trust yourself to make the decisions right for you.

Plan Your Income Stream. Before you stop working, determine how much money you will take each year from your retirement accounts and Social Security. Some financial planners recommend you take only 4% of your retirement funds each year, with a 3% increase each year to cover inflation. However, in current economic conditions, you should consider putting off dipping into your investments until the market has recovered to some extent, or reduce your withdrawals below the 4% level. You also have no need, at this point, to increase the withdrawal until inflation is once again positive.
Social Security minimum age is age 62. If you can afford to wait until full retirement age (people born between 1943 and 1954, age 66), you will receive an "delayed retirement credit" that adds 8% to your benefits each year until age 70. If you go online, you can download the Social Security Administrations retirement planner to figure out when you want to start receiving your benefits.

Eliminate Debt. Pay off those credit cards before you retire! If you can't pay those balances at the end of the month while you are earning a steady pay-check, it is unlikely you will be able to pay them off once you retire. Tackle those with the highest interest rates first. Some suggest transferring those balances to low-interest cards so that more of your money is going toward the principal amount owed than to interest charges.

Pay off your mortgage before you leave your 40 hour a week job. This is, for the most part, your single largest bill. Another option is to decide whether you want to downsize or move to a more cost-effective location to boost your retirement nest egg.
Lifestyle Makeover. Simplify your life. Cut back on expenses, and stick with a budget. If you have been in your house for long enough, consider selling your familial home for an empty-nester home, or even moving to a more affordable part of the country.

Other ways to simplify and cut costs: buy a more economical car, own one car rather than two, delay an expensive vacation until the stock market has recovered a bit more (a $10,000 vacation will remove $150 from your monthly income stream). Grow a garden, eliminating some grocery expenses. You will eat better food and get some exercise!

Sign Up for Medicare. Health care is becoming one of the biggest expenses we are facing. First, check to see if your employer offers retiree health benefits or if supplemental insurance will be necessary. Next, become familiar with the rules for Medicare, including when you need to sign up. Some basic facts you need to know: Medicare open enrollment starts three months before you turn 65 and ends three months after your 65th birthday. If you miss the six-month window, you will go without coverage until the following general enrollment period of Jan 1 through Mar 31 of the next year. The exception is for people still working full time and are on their employer's health plan. Their enrollment period starts as soon as they officially terminate employment. Also, take note that Medicare does not cover dental expenses.

Buy Long-Term-Care Insurance. The biggest threat to your retirement finances is, by far, an extended stay in a long-term-care facility. I have read that an average nursing home costs between $55,000 and $75,000 a year. If you are over 50, the premiums are relatively expensive. If you can afford them, the premiums are worth it. Your spouse will still have funds to live on, and your children will not have to deal with issues around where to put Mom or Dad if they fall ill. Some important benefits to consider include inflation protection and the freedom to hire home health-care so you can remain in your own home.

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Planning to Save Your Money - Get Useful Tips

Money has an important role in our life. The whole world is rotating under money. It does not matter how much you have, as you will also have expenses to match. Income and expenses are very common and both are happening at the same ratio. If you are looking for an option to save your money, you have to make sure that your expenses are becoming less and your income is becoming more.
You can try looking for alternate ways to make money, which can be done through internet and can be used as an alternative source of money. The catch might be that as your income will rise, your expenses will also follow the same path. It is therefore, important to look at ways that should be able to help you cut the expenses in a better way.

Pleasures and temptations should be taken over and not fallen for. Spend on what is essential and indispensable. If you keep spending out of your temptations, mind it there would be no end to it. Discipline is the key word here.
While shopping of any kind don't go for the top-notched brand. Moreover, at the same time don?t get down to the cheapest available. Purchase products that are of average price. By doing that, you would not be compromising upon the quality nor would you be paying for over stated brands.

The money making help can be explored. There is noting better than investing your money and time in the productive activities that will help you to earn some extra buck. This will also help you in your personal financial needs. In addition, the time that you spend on other sources for making money will double your income.
Use credit cards only when you getting some discount or concession for doing so. While spending if you transact using actual currency notes and not plastic money, you would realize how much you are spending. As the touch and feel of the currency flowing out could help you to control your temptations.
Check on your expenses. If you are spending more on other unwanted things, you may have to face many financial problems and later you have to look for other financial help. Before you go for a shopping, plan yourself, fix a budget and try to purchase only the important item that is required for your daily needs.
Keep an eye on discounts, sales, reductions, offers and bargains from where you can purchase the items in a low price.

Keep an eye on the sale, offers, reductions and such bargains. Prefer to shop when there are specials like that. Budget your expenses will work a great deal for you and you can defiantly check for the options above for the same. Or look for refinancing my mortgage? which would never cross your mind. You enjoy your own personal finance help through your saving when others are running for mortgage refinance help or money making help.

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Planning and Budgeting With Womanly Determination and Flair

It's not easy planning and budgeting for the average household these days, so I'd like to show you how you can do it easily by applying a modern take on a very simple and easy to use age old method that will allow you to have every bill covered before it has even arrived and still have money to play with at the end of the day.
It's simple, money comes in, and money goes out. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that what comes in needs to be more than what goes out.
What it does take though is an organized, determined W.O.M.A.N (that's you) who is committed to taking control of her finances and making them work.
It's simply a case of planning ahead; knowing what is coming in, what is going out and of course being prepared for it.

To do this my Mother and her Mother before her used an old fashioned method of planning and budgeting called 'the coffee jar', usually found at the back of a cupboard or on top of the fridge, and in this coffee jar they would place a certain amount out of each weeks pay packet to cover future bills.
Fast forward a few years and today barely a soul is paid in cash, we have moved on to the digital age with pay deposited for us directly into our bank accounts, and bills paid electronically from these accounts with speed and convenience. No more standing in long queues at the bank or the post office and in theory much more time to do the things we enjoy.
Likewise there is also a much better, much faster and more convenient way of budgeting, it works just like the coffee jar but is much smarter than the coffee jar because it can work things out for us, it can answer our questions and really help us apply much more effective planning and budgeting strategies and it's called a spreadsheet. Sound scary? It's not.

Using a very simple but effective spreadsheet means you will never need to write a list of expenses ever again. You simply fill in the blanks on your spreadsheet with all of your own information, then watch as instantly the spreadsheet does the rest. A spreadsheet can tell you how much money is coming in, when it is coming in, where it is going and when it's going there. All the calculating is done for you. Change one piece of information in a spreadsheet and the whole sheet will adjust according to that change. As a result you can play around with different ways of planning your budget and always know instantly how that way will affect your overall finances.

Establishing a budget and sticking to it is not always easy, you need to be determined to take control. Once you develop the discipline to regularly consult your spreadsheet before making a financial decision, before popping into the shops on payday and seeing a new dress, a discounted book, the cutest little baby outfit you have ever seen...an absolutely fabulous pair of shoes, go home, enter it in the spreadsheet, and see how that unplanned purchase will affect everything you were planning towards, and who knows, all your discipline could mean a pleasant surprise. By being prepared you may find out you really can afford that fab pair of shoes after all, but only if your spreadsheet approves it ok.

BudgetMama is a savvy yet simple budgeting logic, what comes in should be more than what goes out, and by setting aside a small amount of funds each pay cycle you can be guaranteed to always be prepared for bills before they come in. Sometimes things are easier said than done, so how do we apply this simple logic into a workable system? Go to => BudgetMama.com [http://budgetmama.com/shop.html] now and see the BudgetMama Budget Planner Worksheet in action. Sarah G, the author and creator of the BudgetMama system offers loads of advise on planning and budgeting for the future while being able to still live without financial pressure today. By adopting the BudgetMama approach yourself you will develop the skills and discipline to control your spending and learn how to cover all your bills whilst still having some money left over at the end of the day. All it takes is determination and with that you can do anything!

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How to Find the Right Kind of Financing Plan For Your Home

Most people want to buy their own home from the time that they start earning money. If you look at the amount of money that you fritter away on the rent that you pay, at some point you'll probably wonder if it's still worth it. Rent is something you'll eventually struggle with, unless you work on a job that takes you out of or around the country most of the time, and even then you'll probably want to have something to show for all your effort at the end of the road. Real estate can be a great investment if you know what kind of real estate to invest in and when to buy. Even if you start off planning to buy a family home, you have to keep in mind that someday, you may want to sell it and move on to a different location. Or you can use the place as a rental property. The point is that real estate is versatile and flexible.

Real estate cost is also historically on an upward trend. Sure, it may dip here and there, but generally, if you look at the bigger picture, it's more of a staggard upward curve than anything. It's something you can pass on to your children for generations. First thing you need to check would be the kinds of home financing that you may want to look into. Since most people really don't have the means to buy a home in cash, home financing is a solution that, if chosen correctly, can help you get your home and keep it too.
It's important to pick the right kind of home financing program because you don't want to over borrow. You want to stick to something workable through the years that will come.

An example of a loan that may not be applicable for people who want to actually own a house at the end of the mortgage term is the balloon loan. This kind of loan gives you a very low interest rate for the first five to ten years, depending on the kind of loan you want to get. Then you'll need to pay a lump sum at the end of the loan. This is great for people who don't plan to hold on to a real estate property too long and are only after the low interest rate as a better (possibly cheaper) substitute to renting. In other words, people who won't mind losing the house after a few years.

There are loans that have varying interest rates per year, there are loans that increase the mortgage you pay depending on some other factors. There are so many different types of loans but the question is whether or not you will be able to pay for it. During times of economic uncertainty, there's a big benefit to getting fixed rate mortgage, or a mortgage that will not rise or fall or is dependent on any other factor. The payment term may be longer, but at least the cost of your mortgage is something that you can forsee.
When finding the right kind of financing for your home, dont' leave too much to the unknown. Don't bet too much on the fact that "things could get better five years from now". The last thing you would want to happen to you is to have your home yanked from under your nose because you didn't understand what you were committing to.

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If USA Families Ran Finances Like Their Government, They Would Go Bankrupt

It does not seem that long ago that federal spending in the United States of America was $627 billion in 1965, according to The Heritage Foundation, which keeps track of these and other numbers of interest. Federal revenue in 1965 was $620 billion, so our government was $7+ billion in the hole for 1965.
Even then, knowing that $1 billion is really $1 million 1,000 times and that $628 billion is really $1 million 628,000 times, it seemed like a lot of moolah.

Federal spending in 2008 is estimated to top $2.7 trillion. Knowing that $1 trillion is really $1 billion 1,000 times, and that $2.7 trillion is really $1 billion 2,700 times, and really $1 million 2,700,000 times, it is mind-boggling to wrap your mind around. No wonder we are called the richest nation in the world.
We may also be the most foolhardy nation in the world as our national debt has now topped $9.4 trillion against an estimated annual federal revenue of $2.5 trillion for 2008. It may be difficult, but think about servicing $9.4 trillion in debt with $2.5 trillion in revenue.

Perhaps the relationship between the two figures it is easier to think of this way: Your annual income is $100,000 and you have to service $376,000 in debt, or your annual income is $50,000 and you have to service $188,000 in debt. What if the $188,000 in debt was credit card debt? Would you ever get out from under?

There are a lot of families in America with annual income well in excess of $100,000 that are servicing more than $1 million in debt, but does all of the wonderful lifestyle make your feel any more secure?
Is our federal spending out of control in the United States? It is a fact that federal spending has grown 334% since 1965, that is 9 times FASTER than our median income, which rose just over 35% during the same period.
If you think that statistic is scary, try this one: Discretionary spending, the portion of the federal budget subject to annual review and debate, has risen 152% since 1965 while mandatory spending, consisting mostly of Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid which continue on automatic pilot, has risen 759% since 1965.
In other words, mandatory spending is rising 5 times FASTER than discretionary spending. Mandatory spending has grown from $169 billion in 1965 to $1.45 trillion in 2007, taking up more than 58% of the federal budget.
Our government has a real stupid plan when it cannot meet our taxpayer obligations-the government prints more money. When doing so, our government simultaneously increases inflation and reduces the value of our American dollar. This is the same plan that South American dictators use when pressed for cash to pay bills. Do it enough, and pretty soon it takes a wheelbarrow full of dollars for a citizen to buy a loaf of bread.
If you lost your job and your income was cut in half or two-thirds, you would use some good old-fashioned Yankee ingenuity (common sense) to cut back your expenses until you found another source of revenue. If we as citizens printed money to cover our expenses, our government would prosecute us and send us to jail.
The people who run our government are citizens like you and me, with one big difference: they can authorize the printing of money to cover their mistakes and we cannot. It also helps that none of them are forced to live in a dumpster behind a trash store. Trust me when I say that they are hardly living near poverty level.
In other words, there are so many millionaires running into each other in the nation's capital they can hardly get anything done that will actually help the people they are representing, which would be us.
Our elected officials in Washington have such a good self-image they refuse to be part of our Social Security System, which is plenty good enough for the taxpayers who elect and support their spending habits, but certainly not good enough for them. Their retirement system is not nearly as shabby and cheap as ours; their retirement system continues their salary for the rest of their life when they retire.
But enough carping about our elected politicians who basically could really care whether we drop dead or get on in the world. Do not believe all of the drivel coming out of their mouths this presidential election year.
Put simply, Barack Obama wants to be the first African American president, Hillary Clinton wants to be the first woman president, and John McCain wants to be the oldest president ever elected. All are U. S. Senators, and all are multi-millionaires or married to multi-millionaires. Their chief interest in being a politician is to line their pockets at our expense.
If nothing about our country being $9.4 trillion in debt bothers you, perhaps you should know that the $9.4 trillion is the actual debt at this very moment-the federal debt INCREASES $1.2 billion per day into the future.
And, just for the record, our actual federal obligations into the future are a whopping $55 trillion and counting. This figure includes "off balance sheet" items like Social Security, Medicare, etc. that we the taxpayers are obligated to pay by being taxed even more in the future.
Most of us who are less prosperous than the millionaire politicians who represent us would do well to work at becoming debt free so we can ultimately survive even if our government cannot.
Copyright © 2008 Ed Bagley

Read my editorial comments on key issues, including "Facts About the Second Most Controversial Topic in America - The First Is Abortion", "So Why Should I Subsidize Any Banks Because of Their Greed and Incompetence?", "A Disturbing Trend in Our Society - The Lack of Trust in Our Institutions" and "Washington's Hottest Political Issue Pits PI Attorneys and the Insurance Industry". Find these articles and more in my Lessons in Life link.

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The 5 Essentials of a Successful Family Business Meeting

Many of us talk about having a family business meeting once a week. But to make sure it's successful - and everyone's on the same spending page - the meeting must include 5 critical components.
 
1. Someone must take the lead. Just like a company business meeting, a family meeting needs a strong leader to keep the meeting focused and productive. Here's an idea that's worked for many families: a different family member gets to lead a meeting each time. Even a child of 6 or 7 can be coached or mentored as they lead a meeting.
 
Changing leaders, or moderators, for each meeting, helps keep adults from feeling that a spouse is too bossy; it teaches children how to be leaders; and it makes the meetings more fun. Each person gets to feel special, trusted, and responsible.
 
2. Before any meeting, however, there must be preparation. The best way to get ready to lead a meeting is to write up a simple list of topics to cover. And be sure that any backup paperwork is handy and available. For example, suppose there's a credit card spending issue that is causing tension in the family. The leader-to-be should write up the point in a non-accusatory way, and have recent credit card charges available to back up the situation.
 
3. Successful family business meetings include the following elements:

• They are held regularly, usually once a month, without fail.
• The meetings are focused, to-the-point, and over in half an hour, tops.
• Snacks, background noise (TV), and multi-tasking are off limits. Let all phone calls go to voicemail, and save all munching for afterwards.
• The meeting room - often the living room or dining table - must be free of clutter.
• Everyone, especially the group's leader, must make a solid attempt to avoid drama. No fear-mongering ("If you keep spending like that, we're all going to end up in the poor house."), no blaming ("Helen, why must you go to such an expensive hair salon?"), no interrupting each other, and no squelching out of anyone's opinion. No name calling, no cursing, no hysteria, and no general whining. Problems must be discussed with compassion, and solutions must be offered. ("Helen, I noticed that the charges for your beauty shop visits are $xx each time. That's going to make it hard for Sandi to buy the prom dress she wanted. How can we work this out? I want 3 ideas.")

4. If there's little to discuss, turn the meeting into a financial classroom for you and the children. Be prepared with a topic to explore - and this topic will depend on the make up of your family. If there are school age children, a family business meeting provides a fabulous opportunity to have the children practice checkbook balancing, credit card management (matching the receipt to the statement's line item, teaching the kids how finance charges work, and how they are different from late charges, seeing which items were impulse purchases that might be cut out next time), how the family's actual spending compared to the pre-planned budget, and lessons in money management. Even us adults can use a review of some of these topics.

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