The Cisco Kid asked:
My wife and I are trying to set up a family budget that we will be able to stick to, and that won’t take a lot of our time. I don’t believe we will have much of a problem following all of the major items like mortgage, car payment, etc. What gets us behind are all of the incidentals like going to Home Depot and Target. There’s no question that we do a lot of impulse shopping, but have a hard time changing our ways. We use debit cards for all purchases and have been wondering if perhaps going on the cash system would help us. Any and all suggestions will be appreciated, especially anyone who has had this happen to them.
Advice On Setting Up a Family Budget
by gustav
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{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
We shop only using a list made up before we leave home and this has helped a lot. We disciplined ourselves to only buy what is on the list and nothing else. We use cash that is placed in different envelopes each payday, for the various purchases like food, gasoline, etc. Our paychecks are deposited in our bank account and we cash a check for the total of the envelopes. When we go shopping or go out, no debit or credit cards go with us.
If it’s not on the list – it doesn’t get bought! As far as time goes, it takes a few minutes to make up a list. At the beginning, it took a little more time until we got used to our method of family budgeting, but for us, this works.
As you mentioned above – use the cash system and no credit/debit cards (keep only 1 for emergency with limited credit/balance)
I can’t emphasize enough to use the cash envelope method of setting up a family budget. Our family didn’t use one early enough and we got into serious financial trouble with credit cards. We had to file bankruptcy, which was bad enough, and then we were forced to go on a cash basis because nobody would give us any credit. It was tough at first, but when you really work at it, it becomes pretty easy. We tried the online budgeting system here and liked it so much, that we use it all the time. It’s very important to take all the time that you have to to get your financial affairs setup properly as early as you can. Once it is setup, it doesn’t take much time at all and you know where all of the money is going, all of the time. Take the advice from someone who has been there and paid the price.