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[F153]Feeding A Family On A Budget

by Mark Lambie, Mar

When you and your family are considering a budget, you may be missing the values that are held within rebates and coupons. In general, because of the time it takes to actually clip these things out of your local newspaper or a magazine, people tend to over look these big money savers all too often. Coupons should be an important part of your family budget. The money you could save using coupons could easily add money to other areas of your budget, like family entertainment.

For decades, people have been clipping and using coupons of a variety of sorts. It is something that is done by grabbing your favorite pair of scissors and scanning through your magazines or newspapers, to find coupons that will help your entire family saved money on your favorite products. Many people commonly skip over coupons because the savings tend to “look” small and insignificant. However insignificant they may look, once these savings add up they could equal a good sum of money saved EACH time you go to the grocery store.

Using and clipping coupons or rebate forms have been known to be an art. People often plan their entire budgets around the coupons or rebates that they have and save a good deal of money in the process. It is impossible to account for coupons during the actual creation of the monthly budget, because you never really know how many coupons you will be able to use and just what the savings will be. Many people choose to stash away the money saved from coupons into a special place to use for a special treat for the entire family. You will be able to enjoy treating your family to a special night out or something of the like, without having to place an impact on the family's budget.

Stick close to a few rules when you decide to use coupons, this will allow you to get the greatest value from them. When you are using a coupon, try to find the item on sale. This will help you reduce the price in a dramatic way, for items that you would generally purchase at regular sale price. In addition, some stores have what is called “Double Coupon Day”; these actually double the amount of savings that is listed upon the coupon. Giving you DOUBLE the money to put away for that special treat and what could be better.

Setting up a financial budget with your entire family can be very fulfilling and satisfying. If you've had problems managing your finances in the past, then setting up a budget will put everything into perspective and serve many purposes at once. Once you put your budget down on paper, you may find that you enjoy the challenge and the rewards to sticking to your budget.

Engage your whole immediate family, even children. If you are single then if you involve someone else you trust then you have the support you need to keep your budget balanced and flowing easily. Children can be a great asset to a budget.

If you have them help you with an entertainment portion of your budget, then they will have something to look forward to and can remind you to set aside money for playtime. Also, children will learn the value of money and will want to be a positive contribution to the family goals.

Set goals with your partner about where you want to be financially and then stick to it. If you both have goals in mind then it is easy to remind each other of them when one of you is tempted to splurge money that should be set aside for other things.

A great exercise to start of your financial budget project is to ask each member of the family to make a list of ten relevant points regarding their financial needs, expectations, goals and visions. Add a second part to that list that shows their usual expenses.

When everyone is finished with his or her individual list, discuss each point of each list together. Identify which items are normally purchased during the course of the month that can be eliminated without hardship, in order to save extra money from the monthly income. By doing this together, your family is participating and can see their contributions will help to make the family finances better.

To start the family financial budget, as well as the lists mentioned, you'll need:

1. Your checkbook, credit card statements or other records of expenses.

2. Make columns for each topic as you come across it. More will occur to you as you work. If you have a spreadsheet program on your computer, this will help you a great deal.

3. List each purchase under the relevant column only using amounts.

4. Add each column together.

5. Add each column total together.

6. Write in income amount.

7. Subtract expenses from income.

If the money going out is more than the money you have coming in, then cut back on things that are not essential. Determine if you need all the minutes you pay for on your cell phone, or if you really watch enough cable TV to make the bill worth it, or if you can quit buying your morning coffee.

Using spreadsheets on your computer are very helpful and there are hundreds of programs that exist to help people with their monthly budget. Find something that works for you and that all of you understand and you will have consistency.

Prioritize your spending to the essentials and encourage your family members to do the same. Put a limitation on the amount you and family members spend daily.

When you go shopping, make a shopping list and calculate roughly the amount you need to take with you to purchase the items on your list. Don't take your credit cards with you. Give yourself some time to get used to this, don't give up, but do get used to spending less.

If you and your family take care of the pennies, the dollars will take care of themselves.

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Both Mark Lambie & Michael New Jr. are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.

Mark Lambie has sinced written about articles on various topics from Credit Cards, Finances and Buying and Selling Home. Tim Renolds is a wirter for the website. Tim enjoys writitng on many finance related subjects.. Mark Lambie's top article generates over 8100 views. to your Favourites.

Michael New Jr. has sinced written about articles on various topics from Finances, Payday Loans and Debts Loans. Michael New Jr. is an authority in the financial industry. He has written hundreds of articles relating to consumer services and .Contact Info:Michael N. Michael New Jr.'s top article generates over 33100 views. to your Favourites.