As a homemaker, managing the family’s finances is one difficult task especially when commodity prices keep increasing. There are a lot of financial management tips out there, it sounds so easy but in reality, when you’re looking at your family’s monthly budget, it is very difficult to allocate the funds based on your priorities.
One important thing is to stick to your budget. Let me share to you some tips on how to stick to your budget:
List down your spending. Knowing all your expenses like utility bills, groceries, and leisure spending can help you see your spending patterns. This way you will know what can be cut down for you to be able to save. To learn more about budgeting, click here.
Needs versus wants. This sounds cliche but it holds true especially if you’re working on a tight budget. When you figure out your needs and wants, you’ll be surprised that you can save a huge chunk of money.
Minimize trips to the grocery and bring a list when you go. How many times did this happen to you? You’ll just drop by quickly to buy a bottle of soy sauce but you ended up with a cartful of snacks. Tsk! This won’t happen if you’ll just schedule your grocery shopping once a month and bringing a list of the things you need to buy.
I also find these top 5 budgeting tips really helpful plus you can save money as well.
As I’ve said, there are hundreds of budgeting tips out there but unfortunately, there are a lot of people who take out loans or use credit cards to get by in times of sudden emergencies. Credit cards are really convenient and helpful if you use it responsibly. It is advisable that you pay the full amount and on time to avoid late fees and finance charges. There are some who are struggling to pay off their debts, but this needs to be tackled and get over with for you to start your journey to financial freedom.
Tips on how to minimize debt
Choose your strategy in paying off debt. There’s the “Avalanche Method” and “Snowball Method, avalanche method is paying the debt with the highest interest first while snowball method is paying the loans with the smallest amount.
Loan restructuring or debt consolidation. These are 2 ways to pay off your credit card. You may talk to your bank to lower your interest rate or consolidate your debts so that you will only deal with one bank with one interest rate.
Look for other sources of income or side hustle. The main reason why you have a loan is that you are short in budget, so an additional income stream will be helpful in your finances as well as minimizing your debt.
Now that you got some tips on paying off your debts, you can work on your savings and putting up an emergency fund. So here’s more financial hacks for you to follow so that you will be on your way to financial wellness one step at a time.
