Plan to budget your children's expenses
Planning a family budget involves estimating how much each person in the family needs. Determine the family expenses by keeping a record of purchases made for an entire month. The amount budgeted must be less than the amount of net income. When planning a budget reserve some of the income for savings, repairs, vacations, retirement and education. Understanding how much money comes in and planning how much money is spent each month will help your family build a good financial future.
Instructions
1. Calculate how much income comes in each month. Include interest and wages. This amount will determine the budget for your total expenses.
2. Create a spreadsheet listing household expenses. Such as mortgage, electricity, heat, water bill, car expense and cable bill. These amounts are costs that are a part of daily living. They are separate from each family member's expenses and budget. Deduct the household expenses from the net income to determine the amount available for the family members' budget.
3. Make a family budget spreadsheet on a sheet of paper or on the computer. Create a column for each person in your family. Enter their name at the top of the column. Create a row for each of the following categories: groceries, clothing, entertainment, education, haircuts, medical, cell phones, insurance and misc.
4. Track how much each family member spends a day for one month and keep this information in a notebook or on a spreadsheet. Note what category the expense was for such as entertainment, clothing etc. Add up each family member's expenses for the month and enter into the family budget spreadsheet.
5. Calculate how much the food costs are for each person per day. Multiply this number times 30 days. Enter this amount into the spreadsheet. Include the amount spent at restaurants.
6. Estimate how much insurance costs are for each person. Insurance includes health, car, life, disability. Enter this amount in the family budget spreadsheet.
7. Compare the monthly expenses against the income. Try to lower the monthly expenses and put more into savings. Involve the whole family in planning how the money should be budgeted.
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