Finances are the Achilles heel of any single parent household. As a single mom you must learn to properly budget all your expenses. To successfully deal with money in a household with children takes considerable skills and energy. But that doesn't mean that it isn't possible.
It is especially tough on moms who have been stay-at-home moms until now. Suddenly you have become the sole provider and even an accountant of sorts.
Well, budgeting isn't difficult. You just need to be really careful and document where the money is coming from and where it is going and in no time you will have it all under control.
Manage your Cash Flow
A budget is simply a plan. It covers all your expenses and money being earned. You can have a monthly or a weekly
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It's the expenses that need your special attention. The best way to add them up is to think of two separate things. First in your single mom budget plan are the fixed expenses. Round up all the utility bills of at least the past 6 months and see how much you spend on electricity, water and telephone bills every month. Then tally up the credit card bills.
Then account for your monthly expense on gas, food and groceries. Items that are variable expenses including clothing and entertainment. These all must be accounted for in your budget. But expenses incurred on all these things can be cut back with a little imagination.
Here, it is important that you have kept receipts and records of everything. Or else you will need to spend a couple of months saving them up before you can start building a successful single mom budget.
Save It Like You Mean It!
Entertainment expenses are the most frivolous of all and should be the first ones to go. Instead of going to the movies with the whole family, rent out a DVD and make it a fun experience with some homemade popcorn. Look for entertainment in unconventional ways. For example, a walk around the corner or to the local park with your kids and your pet is sometimes a very fulfilling experience for
* Create a budget- creating a budget will help you not spend more money than you have. Creating a budget will also help you stay out of debt.
One of my expenses is bowling every week at Bel-Air Bowl on Saturday mornings. It costs eleven dollars a week for the school year except during the school season. My family goes to the chiropractor occasionally, and buys vitamins there. Another big expense for me is church youth group functions. Summer camp alone costs around two or three hundred dollars, and we do events through the whole year. Car repairs and maintenance is a big expense, especially recently since the car accident. We also have random expenses at Christmas and birthdays, when we buy more gifts and spend more money than normal. Random expenses may not be large in dollar amounts, but they add up
Make daily, weekly and monthly budgets and stick to it faithfully. Your expenses for food,
Breakfast =$3, Gas+ $24, Lunch= $8, Pharmacy expenses = $12, Dinner +$10. Total = $67
“Keep a record of your expenditures. Record and review monthly income and expenses. Determine how to reduce what you spend for nonessentials….discipline yourself to live within your budget plan.”
First, I found a partner who I plan to spend all my days with , hoping to never be a single mother. Second, we have a bill book and a very strict budget, that help keep us in our spending limits, allotting a portion to be put back into savings. However, that may not always happen. Last, we have learned using coupons, and straying away from name brand items help save money and dramatically increase our bank account. By being so firm with our finances; we can go out to eat occasionally, take our son to different activites, and most importantly, we do not have to worry or stress about
Take an honest look at what you're spending. Do you really need a gourmet coffee every morning? Is cable tv that important when you can easily stream a ton of entertainment choices with your high speed internet? Consider where you can cut back, then do it. Apply every dime that you save to building your emergency savings. Watching the numbers grow is the best motivation to keep going.
A budget is how you avoid going overboard or lose track of your spending. No one wants 5-figures of consumer debt do they? Rule 1 is always budget with your NET income, which is your income after taxes.
Personal Budget Exercise – Excel Creating a spreadsheet track personal business expenses is an excellent use of Microsoft Excel. For this exercise, you will create a spreadsheet to enter a personal budget and track actual expenses for the year. You may choose to use real data or create a fictitious budget using a monthly income amount of $2,500. Here are suggested budget categories if you are not using a real budget. At a minimum, you must have 9 budget categories: Housing (mortgage or rent) Utilities Car payment Insurance Student Loans Food Misc. Entertainment Gas Savings
Most families budget their money in order to save, my family is one of those many people. My family supports three people daily; however, on some occasions we support my step brother when he comes to live with. We have to worry about how much money we will spend to support our family because we do not bring in a lot of money into the household. In order to keep track of how much money we will spend each month, we write it down. We write down how much money was made from each family member; along with the money made, we write down how much food we have currently and how many items we are in need of. Throughout the month the paper is re-discussed to make sure that the money is still prominent and that we are on track with the amount of money spent and the amount left.
Budget is the major financial and economic statement. The role of the budget is to keep track of the money coming in and the money going out. It is essential part of running any business effectively. It can help make a short and long term projections about financial situation, avert a financial crisis and plan for major financial changes.
Establish your budget. Are you looking for an easy way to begin? On the first day of a new month, get a receipt for everything you purchase. Stack the receipts into categories like restaurants, groceries, and personal care. At the end of the month you will be able to clearly see where your money is going.
Try to make a budget, it will be your blueprint for your finances. The first step for anyone wanting to take control of their finances is to make a budget. A budget will allow you to understand where your money is going and enable you to adjust your spending by designating how much you can afford. Creating a budget is a good idea for everyone, but especially for individuals with limited income. Write down your budget, with specific categories of spending, and stick to it. Start slowly by using a percentage on how much you will save versus spend. A plan doesn’t work unless you work the plan.
Although a budget is one part of this process, we must learn to save money first. Specifically, in this book it says to set aside one-tenth of what we earn and save it (ch.5). Setting aside one-tenth of what we earn allows us to make more suitable decisions on what we do with the other nine-tenths to live our daily lives. After a certain point, the one-tenth that we save every time we earn grows more and more to be able to buy the things we want or even really need.
A budget refers to a financial plan that represents the allocation of the income to various expenditure channels such as expenses, savings, and debt repayment. A personal budget is important because avoiding financial surprises and keeping financial stress down helps avoid a crisis and allows you to focus on your overall goals. You cannot avoid all risks in life but if you plan your finances to live within your means, you can avoid being kicked out of your home, losing your car and other terrible things that a solid budget would help you avoid. Knowing what you can afford is a central life skill. Unfortunately, many do not budget even though they know they should (Wagoner, 2012).