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Why Create a Household Budget?

Your household expenses is more than buying groceries and putting a roof over your head. The household budget can be a complex but complete method of stretching your money and making your money work well for your entire household. 

Perhaps your family budget is just for you, there is no one else. Perhaps you have a spouse and four children, or your parents also live with you, there are always unexpected expenses and someone always needs something more. 

You can meet expectations of the family and pay all the bills at the same time if you are budgeting your money and watching how it is spent on the bills, luxuries, and the extra things in life. 

How can you start to think about a household budget?
It can be difficult to think about at first. What you need to do is write down every penny that you spend in a month. Yes, some months you are going to have expenses that you don’t in others, so you will have to plan for those as well. Some expenses that you don’t have every month might include doctor bills, gifts, or insurance payments. 

Start by writing down how much you spend on the electric bill, the gas bill, the television cable or satellite, even your internet, credit cards, car payments, and shoes that you purchase for school. Thinking about bills before they are due or on top of you is going to help you set a budget and live within your means. 

Now that you have written down everywhere that you spend money, even down to the coffee that you purchase every morning on the corner, you can think about a few other things. 

Where does your money come from? List your income from jobs that you earn from savings or from other types of payments. If your money income is less than your monthly expenses you have to start cutting back on the budget, meaning you have to start cutting back right away on what you are paying out. 

Look at your cable or satellite bill. Do you need all those channels? Can you cut it in half until you get your other expenses cut back?

Look at your internet provider? Are you paying too much for how much you use it? Are you getting your monies worth or can you cut back?

Is your insurance too high? Can you find a better rate for the same coverage that you want?

How much are you spending on clothes every month? Can you cut back for a few months until you get those credit card bills lowered and under control?

Take a look at what you take in your lunch to work. Are you eating out every day or are you packing your lunch? Eating out every day can be very expensive! Cut back in the budget any way possible until you can bring down those other bills so you can have more free money to enjoy on the best things that spoil you in life!

There may be other things you can look at if your budget is getting way out of control. If you are way under budget, change what you are eating or at least how much you are spending on certain foods by changing where you shop. Buy in bulk so you pay less per item. Find a better deal than just the convenient store down the street. Make a list and stick to it!

If you are paying a large portion of your income out in babysitters, and you both work, think about what you might save if one of you stayed home, and got rid of one of the cars. You might find it more profitable if you only had one income. 

If you are paying out too much in sitters, find a sitter that is less expensive. Look for state run centers that give lower income families a break. Ask relatives and friends to help just one day a week to help lower the bills. Volunteer at day care before or after work for a credit on your day care bills. 

While it can be difficult to cut back on the household budget, and how much is being spent in the house, try! You will find that after the first few weeks you will realize that you did not need those 150 channels on cable and that you can get by with those 50 channels for half the price just fine. Organize your affairs easily when starting with a budget.