Make a Budget
Making a budget is one of the best things you can do to become a better family money manager. When you budget effectively, you can go on a kind of auto-pilot, knowing exactly how much you can spend in each category so that you don’t have to fret over every purchase. It helps if you can think of a budget as freeing you up to pay attention to other things rather than as something restrictive. You can even get apps that will alert you when you are getting near your spending limit in a certain category.
The most difficult part of budgeting is generally the initial stages, when you are figuring out what you spend and how much you should allocate in each category. Be sure to avoid common errors like not accounting for occasional expenses, such as birthdays, or making a budget that is overly restrictive. You may also be able to find ways to lower your expenses that you might not have thought of. For example, if you have student loan debts, you may be able to make monthly payments less of a burden by refinancing them with a private lender. The new loan might have lower interest rates.
Educate Yourself
Many people do not know much about how to manage money and need pointers to help with personal finances and budgeting. Even if you do, you may need to give yourself a crash course in personal finance for parenting, including the best savings plan for your child’s education and how to plan for retirement so your kids do not end up supporting you. If you’re like many people, you may find yourself needing to review the basics about budgeting, saving and investing as well. Blogs, books and podcasts are all good places to start.
Make Money a Family Affair
Parents often worry about giving their children a comfortable life from a financial standpoint, but an even better gift is a savvy understanding of personal finances. Many people do not learn how to manage money until well into adulthood and sometimes not even then. The ability to manage finances effectively can be literally life changing.
You can start when children are young, cutting out coupons together and talking to them at the grocery store about the different prices of items. Even children as young as 5 or 6 can get a small allowance that they can save toward things they want to buy. As children get older, you can continue to educate them in age-appropriate ways. For example, they can help participate in planning family nights or family vacations within a given budget.
