Although for some time the idea of setting up a household budget seemed outdated and obsolete, it is fast becoming the “in” thing.  Gone are the days of credit cards and re-mortgaging to maintain your lifestyle.  Back are the days of knowing what you earn and knowing what you spend.   Back to basics and get smart.

If you are smart, you will have already drawn up a budget, a plan to guide your household expenditure.  If you want to get smart, now is the time to start your household budget.  Don’t be afraid – it’s not a life sentence, it’s just a way to map out your spending and to strive towards your long term family financial goals.

These days, budgeting is not about misery and denial; it’s all about knowing exactly where your money is going.  Your household budget will make you and your family aware of the senseless spending, so your money is spent more wisely on treats for all to enjoy or towards longer term investment.  It guides you to spending wisely and getting more bang for your buck!

So what are you afraid of?  A budget is just a plan or a map to future spending that is generally based on your past expenditure.  Start to list all of your regular household bills, take out your bank statements and receipts for the past year and add up the expenditure for each bill in the year.  Once you have a total for each bill for the year, add them up and this gives you your annual expenditure on your household bills.

A budget leads to less stress over paying bills and certainly less panic when those bills start coming through the letterbox.   Setting up your household budget could not be easier. There are many free online tools to help you budget.  For more information on budgeting see www.BillsManager.com.