Family budget. Options for saving. How to save and plan your family budget if you are not an accountant. Real advice from me and my girlfriends

Each person sooner or later asks himself the question: how to make sure that there is always enough money in the family budget? And what is needed to not only make good money, but also to be able to constantly save money for major purchases, training or investments?

If you have similar questions, there are only two options: earn more or learn how to save. But in order to bring the second option to life, you need not only desire, but also knowledge of special techniques.

Those who know how to use the money earned rationally are most likely accustomed to saving from childhood. In many of us, parents in even more crisis times always found money for the necessary things and taught how to save and save money. For such rational people, the question does not arise how to correctly distribute the family budget.

However, this is all simple in theory, and when it comes to practice, difficulties arise. When a person enters into an independent adult life, it turns out that saving is not easy, and often a gap in the family budget gapes. It seems that the spouses are not shopaholics, but the family budget still does not add up. Debit and credit do not converge. So it turns out that a few days before the paycheck, the wallets of both are empty, because the money was spent unreasonably. If such problems become a habit, then the family is not far from scandals and the search for the guilty.

Golden Rule of Money Handling

  Of course, more relevant than all lectures and tips will be your personal trial and error method. But the editorial board of Znayzhevse.rf has golden rules on how to learn to save the family budget.

How to handle money?

All the main expenses you need to make purchases on the day of wages or the next day. This is a very powerful rule, the strength of which, however, is underestimated by many. Each family has standard monthly expenses - they are all about the same and can be predicted. For example, every month a family spends certain amounts on a cell phone, the Internet, non-perishable food products (cereals, potatoes, sunflower and butter), household goods (soap, toothpaste, washing powders, razors), and covers utility bills (rent, mortgage or rent) and medical expenses.

All these expenses can be paid in two ways:

1. Immediately after the receipt of money in the account or the next day you should buy everything you need.

2. Pay all listed expenses spontaneously, or when such a need arises. For example, you have the time or the mood to pay for utilities, or you simply run out of money on your mobile or landline phone or there are no products in the refrigerator.

At first glance, there are no differences between the two methods of paying for permanent family expenses. The amount of money does not change from the time of payment. But in practice, this is important. If the programmed robot distributed the money for expenses, then of course nothing would have changed.

How can I save?

Why does it work

  In life, money is managed by a person who is prone to weaknesses and instability. For example, when there is a specific, rather large amount of money in the budget (on the card), it seems that there are a lot of them (and this is for a long time), and you can afford all sorts of little things. But in the end it turns out that there is still a week before the salary, and the family treasury is already empty, and there is no money for the most necessary. And here no talk will help. For some time you will be haunted by guilt, but in the end nothing will change dramatically.

It is necessary to develop the habit of paying for everything on the day the money is received, or, in extreme cases, the next day. Immediately it is worth saving money on an investment account or in a piggy bank if you are collecting money for something large. On the same day, you need to make planned purchases, which cannot be classified as permanent. For example, buy furniture or clothes.

After that, a stack of money in the family budget will no longer seem immense. Therefore, the cost overrun in the first days to buy unwanted clothes, cafes and other nonsense will not come, the money will be reasonably saved. When this important and simple rule is followed, money and stability will appear in the family. At the same time, some additional amount will accumulate in the investment account over time.

One of the main advantages of such a distribution of money is that it employs technology, not a person. Naturally, it takes time to get used to this routine. It is advisable to combine this technique with other techniques of competent family budget management.

Saving mode

  Some more important points of saving the family budget from the site:

1. Write “magic lists”. Here you need to consider what is really necessary, and without which you can do. Without a list behind the store counter, you can buy nonsense and forget about the most important thing. Make a list of large and small purchases. And not only in the near future, but also in the future.

2. Another point of frugality can be called a reduction in spending on lunch. Carry lunch from work at home. After all, if you visit a cafe, then the spending will be much more than for homemade food. Before going to the store, it is advisable to make a list of the necessary and stick to it. Estimate the necessary amount for the purchase of products and do not carry extra money with you. Get a special notebook to calculate income and expense. This will allow more rational use of available funds. Learn simple and cheap dishes. For example, all of Asia grew up in rice crops. Rice is an inexpensive but very useful product that perfectly cleanses the body. Rice with vegetables (the easiest option with carrots, onions and seasonings) will be a terrific side dish, and maybe a side dish and salad for every day.

3. This is important! Buy high-quality and, of course, not the cheapest things. Very often it turns out that inexpensive goods immediately fail and it turns out that none of this comes out of savings. Remember: avaricious pays twice. It is especially dangerous to save on food quality. But if you, for example, want a new camera or a washing machine, then it is quite possible to take models of the last season.

Set the meter to water

  In our country, water and gas are relatively inexpensive. We are unfamiliar with the savings in these resources that are common to all Western countries. For example, in Sweden it’s normal to open the refrigerator once so that all family members take everything they need from there. However, sin is not to save on gas and water. The easiest way to save money is to set up a meter and pay only for what you actually used.

Start with one thing. Over time, you are guaranteed to have free money, some stability, peace of mind and some confidence in the future.

The most interesting thing is that after the budget is put in order, additional income will appear out of nowhere. It is not clear why this happens, but it is.
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Recent studies have shown that over the past 10 years, the costs of raising children have doubled. Even if the child will undergo free treatment, attend state educational institutions, go to the budget department of the university to raise him, parents will need an average of 3 million rubles. In such a situation, saving the family budget comes first. The tips presented in this article will help you plan and correctly allocate funds.

Training

Today, huge amounts are spent on food, treatment, clothing and education. Many families have difficulty reaching salaries. The secrets of saving are the revision of lifestyle, limiting the cost of entertainment and recreation. On the other hand, parents are not ready to save on their children. Therefore, you need to learn how to properly distribute funds without radical restrictions for family members.

To live better, you need to either earn more or spend less. Not everyone can cope with the solution to the first problem. The second goal is quite attainable. Consider the main ways to save the family budget.

Observation

Before reducing costs, you need to understand exactly where the majority of the money is spent and for this it is necessary to record every penny spent within a month. According to the results of the first week of keeping a diary, it is possible to identify items of expenditure that literally “wash” money from the wallet.

In order to correctly distribute the family budget, it is very important to record everything, even the smallest expenses, not forgetting to indicate chewing gum, cigarettes, chocolate and sweets in the expenses.

Analysis

After a month of research, you can summarize the first results. To understand how to save the budget next month, you need to distribute the costs into groups:

• how much money was spent on housing and communal services;
• how much money was spent on paying loans;
• how much expenses were necessary food;
• how much money was spent on clothing, hygiene products;
• how often were unplanned spending on gifts, entertainment, taxis.

Cost reduction

It will be necessary to constantly monitor expenses and incomes now. Proper budget planning is to allocate costs to priority and future. When recording purchases, you can carefully calculate and abandon unnecessary things.

Reduce will not work. But some articles can be reduced. Most foods are bought for pleasure, not for maintaining the body. Saving in the first place is on those purchases that you can do without. Refusing chocolate snacks at work will only benefit health. It’s worth to refuse processing, if you have to get home in the evening by taxi. And if you can’t live without your favorite magazine, then instead of the paper version, purchase an electronic one.

How to save on products?

For a family with a modest budget, a spontaneous dinner in a public place can be painfully expensive. Of course, one-time visits to catering establishments are allowed. But if you have to change your home dinner daily at a cost of 150 rubles per serving of pizza, then such trips need to be planned in advance. It is advisable to draw up a nutrition plan for the week. Special online services allow you to prepare a weekly menu depending on employment, working conditions, lifestyle.

How to save on electricity?

One of the most expensive items from the list of utilities is electricity costs. Modern household appliances make life easier. But if they work all at the same time, they consume a lot of energy. The following simple tips will help reduce costs.

Use energy saving lamps

Such lamps cost two times more than usual, but they also last longer. They practically do not heat up, all the energy goes to lighting. The average service life is three years; annual savings are 600 rubles. Dust can “eat” up to 20% of the light. Therefore, it is worth periodically wiping shades and bulbs.

When leaving, turn off the light. In order not to forget about this simple rule, you can write a reminder and hang it on the front door.

Buy class A + household appliances and use them strictly according to the instructions

Modern equipment of class A + or A ++ consumes much less electricity, but only on condition that it is properly operated. If you put the refrigerator in the kitchen next to the stove, then it will work in heavy mode to maintain the required temperature. A similar situation arises if you try to cool hot food. Timely defrosting will prevent the formation of ice on the walls of the chamber and reduce electricity consumption by an average of 15%.

Computers and TVs are actively used only a few hours a day. The rest of the time they are in standby mode, actively absorbing electricity. It is not enough just to turn off the device with a button on the power supply. You need to disconnect it from the power source.

Periodically repair

Light wallpaper and a white ceiling can offset up to 80% of the sun's rays. For comparison, the light output from black is only 9%. But before gluing the wallpaper, you should check the quality of the wiring. Sometimes, increased power consumption occurs due to wear on the wires.

Install heat-reflecting screens

Heating devices in the autumn-winter period absorb a lot of electricity. If you install foil or polystyrene on the battery, you can increase the temperature in the room by 2-3 degrees. To insulate the room even more, it is worth replacing wooden frames with metal-plastic ones, or at least close up the cracks.

Planning and Reservation

The distribution of funds for the next month should be carried out in advance. This is the saving of the family budget. The advice of financial gurus says that accumulating funds for long-term goals is not so difficult. It is enough to save 5-10% from each payday to the piggy bank. This one can be spent on expensive purchases, for example, a car or an apartment.

Deliberate purchases

Shopping only during promotions is not the best way to save your family budget. Rather, the opposite. Frequent shopping leads to high costs. It is best to shop once a week, for example on a weekend, and make a list of the necessary goods in advance. If possible, go shopping without children. This will reduce unplanned expenses. What then is saving the family budget? Advice:

• Disposable items save time on cleaning, but take a lot of money. Replace paper towels with fabric towels, and instead of bottled water, buy tap filters.
• You need to participate in promotions only if you know for sure that you will use all the goods. It’s not worth buying a fabric softener at a 50% discount just because it comes as a gift to a pack of powder that has never been used before. But you need to keep track of seasonal discounts in order to manage to buy clothes on sale on time.
• Whenever possible buy food in the same shops. Today, all supermarkets offer discount or savings cards to regular customers.
• Shopping in stores should be done after meals and in a good mood.

Time for shopping

Some are used to purchasing all the goods necessary for life right after receiving a salary, while others distribute these expenses into several parts. Everyone decides how to save a budget. On the one hand, a one-time payment of utilities, the purchase of goods from household chemicals and food products allows you to immediately stock up on goods. The risk of wasting the right amount for leisure and entertainment is minimal. On the other hand, durable goods should not be bought as far as possible, but in bulk, at low prices.

Use envelopes

If expenses are paid in installments, then it makes sense to reserve funds for them from the moment you receive your salary. For this purpose, you can use multi-colored envelopes. For example, to save from each paycheck part of the money for utility bills in a red envelope, insurance payments in green, leisure and entertainment in yellow. In this case, even if unplanned expenses arise, you can always pay off the obligatory payments and postpone part of the funds for long-term purposes.

Organization of rest

Not everyone can afford an expensive trip. And it is not always appropriate to save money for it for half a year. Most often, the purpose of travel, especially family, is to change the atmosphere and have a good time. And for this it is not necessary to fly to the other end of the world. You can go on an excursion to a neighboring city, visit historical museums, exhibitions or just go to the forest. No one canceled the bowling, water park and playgrounds without rides. Families with children should consider home entertainment. Board games will help to relax and spend time.

Buy used goods

At auctions and online sites you can find a large number of used goods of good quality and at an affordable price. Of course, family saving should not be reduced to second-hand only. But sometimes it makes sense to buy a bike or scooter through an auction.

Compare rates

There is huge competition in the telecommunications market. Therefore, companies periodically hold promotions. Periodically, you need to view the tariffs of the company whose services you use and competitors in order to switch to a more profitable package in time.

Use the services of a bank

Tips for saving your family budget during a crisis often include a recommendation to save money on a bank deposit or keep it on a card. Both options have a right to exist, but only with a reasonable approach.

Bank deposits are designed just to save money, and not to increase them. The rate provided for such deposits usually does not exceed the rate of inflation. But if you try to withdraw funds from the account before the expiration of the contract, you can lose some of the investments. Moreover, in a crisis period, fearing an outflow of capital, Central banks impose temporary restrictions on early breakdown of deposits. And in institutions with a very difficult financial situation, they at all introduce a temporary administration. That is, the period for the return of funds invested on a deposit is constantly postponed. But this does not mean at all that the funds have been lost forever.

If economic news does not portend major changes in the next few months, you can safely arrange a deposit at any commercial bank. and not worry about the safety of funds. In other cases, it should:

• to make a deposit in state financial institutions, for example, Sberbank;
• carefully read the contract with the bank;
• open a deposit, not buy;
• open a short-term deposit with the possibility of prolongation.

Payment by credit card eliminates the possibility of losing money. But recent studies have shown that psychologically it’s easier for a person to part with invisible numbers than with real pieces of paper. Therefore, the constant use of plastic can lead to loss of control over costs. To avoid this problem, activate the SMS-informing service or download the mobile account management application to your phone. Only in this case it will be possible to visually track every penny spent. Does the bank not provide a detailed breakdown of each payment? Make it a habit to study every number on the check.

Finally

The tips presented for saving your family budget during a crisis should not be taken as a direct guide to action. These are just guidelines for reducing costs. It will take time to get used to even the simplest manipulations. But the result is worth it.

This article reveals the basic methods of saving a family budget.

1. Packages.

Come to the store and forget the package. You have to pay money. 3-5 rubles per package seems to be not so much, but you can not pay them at all. We take a large bag of fabric, such as a beach bag or a large bag, fold it and put it in a bag or backpack. Now you always have a package.

2. Magazines or books.

In life you need to read, learn something new, because knowledge is power. In order not to buy magazines, you can register on the city portal in the announcement section, there are also forums and free classified ads. Look for information about who gives magazines, books of the topic that interests you.

3. The food.

The main item of expenditure is food. Look for discounts and promotions on store sites, magazines, or apps. Go to the store with a list of what you need to buy. Do not go hungry, because hunger provokes purchases that you did not plan.

The stores use a tricky price system for 100 grams, not per kilogram. And many people think that it is not expensive, but at the exit it may turn out that the price per 1 kilogram of sausage is more than 1000 rubles.

Always check the check at the cash register, because there are a lot of goods, and there are few personnel, and sometimes they can write a stock, and breaking through at a different price is more expensive. Sometimes at the checkout they specially add the goods that you did not buy. When you go to the stores, remember the prices of the goods (you can take pictures or compare by checks) and look at which stores the goods are cheaper. Take food with you to work, make twists for the winter.

If you are watching the “Revizorro” program, then you know that many cafes and restaurants do not comply with the rules, so eat at home. When going to the park, take water and sandwiches with you, because in park areas, food is much more expensive.

4. Electricity.

To reduce energy consumption, choose a 3-lamp chandelier, buy energy-saving light bulbs. When buying household appliances, see the energy class of the product, it is indicated literally. The lower the energy consumption of the device, the more expensive the equipment, but the energy consumption will be much less. Tip -

When you leave the room, turn off the electricity.

Put a table for the student, a sofa near the window, and then you can use daylight and do homework, read books and magazines, and turn on the electricity only in the evening.

You can refuse to use some devices. For example, a hair dryer, a curling iron, a hair curler in a box - spoil the hair, so the hair can be dried in a natural way, and instead of a hair curler in a box, use hair curlers with Velcro or foam rubber.

A microwave, electric scooter and other large appliances - all this is an expenditure of additional energy and they can be sold on the websites of free classified ads or donated.

When ironing, you can not iron panties and socks, because they are well straightened on the body. Some housewives do not iron towels, jeans, but simply fold them and put them in a closet. Knitted items can be straightened with a spray bottle of water.

5. Flowers in pots.

You can not spend money on flowers. Ask friends and relatives to give you flowers not in a cut, but in pots for the holidays.

Propagate flowers, ask your friends, grow flowers from seeds (lemon, mandarin, avocado, dates and other fruits) and seeds. 1 bag of seeds is inexpensive, about 10 rubles - it is much cheaper than buying a ready-made flower. By the way, land for flowers can not be bought at the store, you can dial it in the yard.

6. Sports.

Cards and certificates for fitness centers are very expensive, approximately 40,000 rubles for 6 months or a year. In different centers, different prices. But no one knows what will happen in a month, two, maybe you will move to another place, and the girls can stay waiting for the baby.

You can go in for sports without spending a lot of money: skates, skis, sleds, badminton, tennis, a bicycle, roller skates and other sports equipment.

Now sports equipment is being installed in many yards, so you can practice at any time convenient for you.

7. Clothing and shoes.

If you are in the status of a mother, then for the baby you can find clothes on free message boards or special sites where they give things away for free. The child grows quickly and therefore the clothes will often have to be changed.

To dress stylishly it is not necessary to buy clothes in an expensive store, you can see clothes in stocks, second-hand, ordinary economy-class stores. Change clothes with friends that you don’t wear anymore.

You can give a second life to old things and complement with embroidery, lace, sew pockets on old clothes and it will look different.

8. Accessories.

Girls like to complement their look with accessories: beads, bracelets, earrings - they can be made with your own hands. Visit our website and you will learn many interesting ideas!

9. Washing the floor and windows.

There are a lot of different products for cleaning windows and floors, but windows and floors do not need them at all, and why breathe chemistry? I wash the floor with a rag soaked in water, and windows with a newspaper soaked in water.

10. Beauty services.

Every girl loves to take care of herself:, and, tint her hair roots or. You can spend less money on beauty services if you take care of private individuals or do it yourself at home.

11. Cellular communication.

Stay tuned for new tariff plans of your operator or others. Activate the favorite numbers service, in which communication with these subscribers will be cheaper. If you have Internet on your phone, you can chat in chat rooms for free: ICQ, whats app, skype.

12. A trifle.

Check your pockets, bag and remove money in the form of coins. Firstly, it interferes, rings. Secondly, she can tear her pockets. Coins can be thrown on a card for travel in public transport "troika", "arrow", to buy disposable tableware, chewing gum, bread. Remember the saying: a penny saves a ruble!

13. Rest.

Rest outside the season (not in summer) will cost less. Traveling by train is cheaper than by plane. Also, the money will be less if you take the top shelf in the car and 45 days before the departure of the train. At a private person or in a hostel that is gaining momentum, it will be cheaper to rent a house than to live in a hotel.

14. Medicines.

Look for analogues of medicines, you can download a special mobile application for this.

15. Get rid of bad habits.

Do you smoke? Do you like to drink beer? Then take a piece of paper and a pen. Write how much money you spend on cigarettes and alcohol products per week, month, year? Impressive? And what can you buy for this amount of good for yourself and your family, if you put it in the piggy bank?

16. Joint procurement.

Many people are in groups called joint purchases. In simple terms, you can buy, for example, a watermelon into two families and cut into 2 parts. Some stores give a discount on beauty products when buying from 5-10 pieces.

17. Discount coupons.

Use special sites where you can buy a discount coupon.

The main rule of saving says: it is important not how much a person earns, but how much he spends. Following our tips on the site you will have extra money that can be put into the box, save and spend on something you need!

Date: August 28, 2015

Probably our grandmothers and great-grandmothers who went through the hungry war years of the 20th century could tell more about how to plan the family budget. However, I really hope that we do not have to follow their recipes, as long as we proceed from the current situation and today's opportunities.

As one comrade used to say, accounting and control are the main principle of socialism, let us supplement it - as well as the main principle of economic management. After analyzing expenses, it is important to plan expenses so that income is not lower than expenses. At the same time, budgeting (at least sketchy) is part.

For analysis and planning, family expenses are conditionally divided into categories:

1. Utility and other standing payments (telephone, television, internet).
2. Food and drinks, snacks at work.
3. Pharmacy (medicines, vitamins, etc.), medical services, swimming pool, fitness, etc. - health costs.
4. Transportation (gasoline or family car service).
5. Keeping children in kindergarten, school (parental pay, parental fund and the purchase of stationery and household goods, paid services).
6. Clothes, linen, shoes.
7. Barber, cosmetology.
8. Costly household items for long-term use (what we call fixed assets at enterprises - a car, a TV, a washing machine, etc.).
9. Gifts (usually for birthdays, new year, March 8, February 23).
10. Rest (expenses for the maintenance of the garden-cottage and nature trips, trips).
11. Household expenses and household trifles (washing supplies, detergents, light bulbs, etc., plumbing repairs, etc.).
12. Cultural events (concerts, museums, cinema, etc.).

Now point by point, how and where I optimize.

1. Communal apartment - while we pay after the readings of the meters, I trust the calculation of our HOA, our costs are lower than in other apartments of a smaller area due to the efficient operation of the HOA and the fact that residents control costs. My phone is the simplest - without the Internet, since the Internet is at home and at work. Perhaps this is not the most convenient option (for example, there is no navigator and Double-Gies or the ability to check mail and watch something on the Internet, while on the street or in public places). But since it takes 40 minutes to travel from home to work, this is not critical for me.

2. Food, drinks - this is one of the main items of expenditure, as it turned out in the analysis (we wrote down the expenses in a notebook and looked at where the money goes, which, it would seem, should be enough -))) Rising prices for cheese and fish made their purchase available once a month. Instead of beef, we began to buy more chicken. Snacks at work - this is a lot, because often their purchase is an attempt to please yourself on weekdays and diversify what you are used to cooking at home. And at home, experimenting with new dishes has neither the strength nor the original products themselves. In principle, if you bake cookies at home in advance or wash and peel the carrots it will be more economical.

Juices have risen in price very much, so we rarely buy them, instead of juices I want to buy more compote mix and rose hips and cook compote more often. If there is, I add berries frozen in the season (currants, cherries, etc.).

3. In terms of maintaining health costs, our medical services were a very significant item when my son started going to kindergarten and was often ill. A lot of money was spent on the services of an ENT specialist in a paid clinic (in the municipal children's clinic at that moment we simply did not have an ENT specialist, and after the operation, I had a strong fear of repetition due to otitis media, and I did everything to avoid getting into a child hospital). Last year, I worked out my fears with a good specialist (I’ll call him a psychologist) and since January, after my chickenpox, my son goes to kindergarten without SARS. If snot appears, this is quickly resolved thanks to minimal medical attention.

I think one of the factors in improving the son’s health was our relationship, which was improved thanks to an acquaintance with the theory of attachment (a blog in LiveJournal Olga Pisarik, an acquaintance with Daria Dombrovskaya at one of the webinars, as well as a book by Lyudmila Petranovskaya about the “secret support”).

4. Transport and car maintenance - we bear the expenses in the family after the fact. Here I can optimize only by choosing a tram instead of a minibus, usually on the way back it turns out. But here the savings are very small. Walking far and very uncomfortable route, maybe someone has a completely different situation.

But here there is an opportunity to save the family budget, if at the stage of acquiring a car take into account the cost of ownership. The price of ownership is a forecast of all expenses for maintenance, fuel, spare parts. In addition, it is probably better to refuse to buy a car on credit if it does not generate income, but leads only to additional expenses of the family and at the same time such a purchase is detrimental to health, that is, when you have to significantly limit yourself in nutrition and health costs for it.

5. Keeping children - also upon request from the kindergarten. Savings are possible when buying a large consignment of stationery on a joint purchase site or online store (I immediately purchase it in the kindergarten, home, and on gifts for children - for example, goods for creativity, books). I plan to sew costumes for the holidays myself (the costume of the bunny for the New Year, of course, is far from a masterpiece, but in the eyes of my son and husband it was a success).

6. Clothing, underwear, shoes - joint purchases greatly help to save the family budget (any free time to choose, no need to spend on visiting shopping centers, significant cost savings, although, of course, there are small risks).

7. Barber - she cut her son up to 4 years old with a machine and scissors, now he is already big (5 years old) and wants to be cut in a hairdresser. I myself go there every 2 months, I try to take care of the hair myself, now I grow it, there is no need to dye my hair, so I get good savings on this expense. I don’t go to a cosmetologist, the skin health, in my opinion, depends largely on nutrition and health. If I notice that I am becoming gray from stress and fatigue, seasonal SARS, I drink vitamins for beauty, and ask for a nice holiday cream (by my standards) as a present for the coming holiday.

8. Costly household items - now we can not afford it - you need to save. I really don’t like to owe it, so they never took a loan for these needs. In my opinion, a loan is advisable for the acquisition of what is associated with further income (if you bake cakes for sale, then the new oven is justified, or work at the computer at home - then the computer and office equipment can be bought, as they will pay off directly). On this subject, I also met Mikhail Delyagin's advice in a book on how to survive the crisis, it was written in the 2000s, but I found there very relevant ideas for myself.

9. Gifts. My husband and I disagree on which budget for gifts is optimal. In my family, it was customary to give good, expensive things, significant, for birthdays, New Years and March 8th. Gifts are my language of love, according to Gary Chapman’s terminology “Five languages \u200b\u200bof love”, and it was customary for my husband to give small gifts in the family, for example, for the New Year it’s still difficult to buy gifts together or give money to someone for the anniversary, and I I started preparing gifts for all occasions ahead of time. Perhaps this tells me fear that it will not be possible to find a good option closer to the event or there will be no opportunity to buy. The joint purchases that I mentioned earlier also help out. There I buy everything for children, for children of relatives and friends with children - clothes, toys, books, everything for creativity, etc.

Three and four years ago, I had little money for gifts for the New Year (I was sitting with my child at home on maternity leave), I baked gingerbread cookies, decorated them and packed all the relatives and friends who had gingerbread Christmas trees, who had a gingerbread house, and another year, she made candies from dried fruits and nuts at home. Everyone was thrilled. She also gave knitted gifts earlier, when there was more free time for creativity. There are a lot of homemade gift options for those who are craftsmen. And there is also a wonderful project “Draw” - even without experience in painting, you can draw beautifully, design and present to friends, relatives, lovers of beauty.

Well, well-known to everyone, financing of current expensive needs or wishes, charity at the expense of relatives (on vacation, vacation, concert tickets, etc.). The last time we bought summer tires from gift ones (our relatives in DR are four relatives of our family, we donated by wheel, it happened in the end). Another example is that our family has already used the idea of \u200b\u200bgiving a ticket to a concert or a show to a couple of times, when the price is quite high by our standards and you just can't buy it.

10. Rest - my husband is a specialist in finding airline tickets with discounts and route planning. There are many sites that select the best tickets. If you choose the method of payment by card online - it may be cheaper. The exception of Russian Railways - there, on the contrary - is more expensive, as I understand it. Railway tickets are cheaper to buy at the box office, if there is an opportunity for half a day to break away from other matters and hold them in line. On vacation, we save when we do not buy sightseeing tours, and even at the planning stage of the trip we choose the route and go by public transport or rent a car and drive to interesting places ourselves. We had an unforgettable vacation in Greece a few years ago, when we ourselves went to Athens (6 hours a night by train), to Meteora (in a rented car).

And now we have an anti-crisis vacation option, probably for the next three years - this is a garden. With the money we could go twice to the sea last year, our family bought a garden. We put an inflatable pool there and plan to make outings in the forest and on the river. I hope we don’t have to grow potatoes there, but if such a moment comes, we already have a place where to do it -)

11. Household. expenses - again, joint purchases, although the savings are not very large, but if you make large purchases and focus on discounts in large stores, you can choose the best option. In any case, I try to have a supply at home, and do not have to buy exorbitantly something at a convenience store or pharmacy on the way home (shampoos, hygiene items, etc.).

12. Cultural events are now a luxury for me - we get out once every half a year - a year. We have a tea club in our city and there are interesting meetings - for a nominal fee (in support of this project, which is not comparable to the price of a ticket for a concert tour) you can chat, listen to songs or poems, discuss gathering herbs and other things, and also drink delicious green tea. In winter, 3-4 Christmas trees that we visit with a child fill the need for “going out".

So, the task of how to plan a family budget is economical. And the most important thing in any planning, in our case, and in saving the family budget, is to remember priorities. For us, in terms of everyday spending - this is the physical and mental health of all family members and the education of the child. Remembering the recommendations of the World Bank - what is called investment in human capital.

And God forbid all mothers-fathers, grandparents health and good luck in creating the best conditions for family happiness.

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Excessive spending of money is natural for large incomes, but they are no exception in a detailed analysis for families with small budgets. The constant making of spontaneous rash purchases is inherent in everyone. The question of how to save money in the family worries many, and for this you will have to learn how to properly allocate your budget according to the income received.

How to learn to save money

To learn how to save the family budget, you do not need to limit your needs, but you only need to develop the ability to competently manage available funds. To save, you should:

1. Keep a detailed record of expenses and do analysis. To develop useful habits to identify priority areas, without which it is impossible to do and refuse unnecessary expenses.
2. Plan the spending of money according to the funds received.
3. Learn to save for unforeseen expenses, so as not to take loans during a crisis in the family - in case of job loss or the need for treatment.

rules

Eliminating unnecessary expenses does not at all reduce the quality of life. Saving money in the family is possible subject to the following rules:

1. Do not go shopping hungry or after receiving a salary, but spend money after budget planning.
2. Go to the supermarket with a prepared list of products and, in order not to buy unnecessary little things, visit only those departments where the necessary goods are located.
3. For payments in the store, refuse plastic cards, and use cash. After making your purchases do their total count.
4. When deciding to make a major purchase, it is better to postpone the acquisition time for some period and weigh well the need for this thing.
5. Use discount cards and cashback features to get discounts.
6. It is wise to approach the ongoing campaigns, to be protected from the temptation to purchase goods that are not relevant to you.
7. Regularly do an examination with a doctor, so as not to buy medication if a running illness is detected.

Ways

You can start saving money in the family using the following methods:

1. Five envelope method for four weeks of the month. The entire salary is distributed in five parts. The control of the spending of money occurs through the implementation of the rule - the contents of only one envelope are allowed per week. Fifth - provided for the remaining last days of the month and for accumulation.
2. Keeping records of purchases and payment for services, followed by spending analysis. You can record expenses in a notebook, in the Excel table, or use programs downloaded on the Internet for this. Monthly analyze the committed expenses. This method helps to detect unnecessary costs, and after analysis they can be reduced or completely eliminated.
3. Refusal of loans. To borrow for a vacation, for the purchase of household appliances or a telephone when there are still old ones is an unreasonable decision. It is better to accumulate money and for the deferred funds to relax or buy the desired thing, so as not to spend money on bank interest.

How to save money in the family - table

When planning the family budget, it is necessary to distribute all the estimated expenses in descending order of their importance and include the first ones from the list in future expenses. All family needs are shown in the table:

What can you save on

The wise use of the opportunities provided is a saving. You can reduce costs by:

1. Utilities. It is necessary to install water and gas meters.
2. Wardrobe. To buy clothes at the end of the season at sales. Do not strive to acquire a large number of clothes - you can create new outfits using a combination of several things.
3. Household appliances. No need to buy a product with a wide range of functions - this increases the purchase price. You can select only the necessary options.

Food expenses

Vegetables, fruits are necessary for proper nutrition, so you can not save on them. Savings can be obtained with:

1. Reduce meat consumption. From this, the quality of food will not decrease.
2. Reducing the number of sweet desserts in the diet. This will improve your health.
3. Purchasing products at competitive prices in the market before closing.

How to save electricity

To save, you need:

1. Buy energy-saving lamps.
2. When leaving the room, turn off the electricity.
3. To purchase household appliances that consume less electricity - class A, AA, A +.
4. Do not place the refrigerator near a heating radiator or stove; regularly defrost it.
5. Disconnect electrical appliances after use.

Bad habits

When analyzing the costs, you may find that the costs of smoking and buying beer are consumed by several thousand rubles. A lot of money is spent on the purchase of chips, carbonated drinks, alcohol. With the exception of these costs, you can not only save money in the family, but also maintain health. Rejecting them will help compensate for the shortage of funds or use the savings for savings.

Cheap analogues

Large amounts of money go to purchase new products or branded items. There is no need to strive to buy expensive products or acquire new equipment and communications, if the old ones still work. Promoted brands of dairy products, cosmetics can be replaced with similar cheap goods of a local manufacturer. To do this, you need to compare their composition.

How to save money with a small salary

Small incomes are not a sentence, but an incentive to streamline their expenses. How to save money in a family on a budget? You need to learn how to plan expenses according to the funds received. To save, you should:

1. Refuse loans, as payment on bank debt increases the burden on the family budget.
2. Define the priority needs of the family and bring them in line with income - this way you can reduce spending.

Budget allocation

With a reasonable approach to the use of family finances, you can identify reserves even with a small budget. To balance income and expenses, you can use the recommendations:

1. Plan needs for a month.
2. Make a diet for a week and make purchases according to a compiled list. So you can avoid the acquisition of excess food and prevent their spoilage.
3. The necessary products that are consumed by the family in large quantities and do not deteriorate (sugar, flour), you can buy for the future at wholesale prices and so save.

Financial Accounting

Registration of all expenses will help to analyze them and detect excess or harmful expenses. How can you save money in a family with low earnings? There are options for this:

1. Avoid going to restaurants and cafes, and cook homemade food for family members and guests.
2. Replace visits to spas with home treatments, and paid fitness classes with morning jogging and exercise.
3. Refuse harmful products (chips, carbonated drinks) and habits (smoking).
4. Rest in exotic resorts is replaced by excursions to the neighboring region, visiting exhibitions and museums, a trip to a picnic.
5. Do not buy ready-made food and convenience foods in supermarkets, but cook on your own. Instead of packaged goods and slices, purchase cheaper weighted food products.
6. Periodically review mobile plans and choose only the best rates, which include the necessary options.
7. Buy cheap items in online stores.

How to start saving and saving money

In order to understand how you can save money in the family and learn how to save, you need to define financial goals for yourself and strive to achieve them. You can save money every month for: buying a car, vacation, home repair. Real estate does not benefit its owner, so the savings must be used to generate additional income through investments in investments. Money can, on favorable terms, be put into a bank deposit with capitalization of interest.

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