Take Charge of Your Household Finance
A neat home, besides being aesthetically pleasant, allows
everyone in the family to easily find what they want, when they
want to. Tidying your home also prevents it from turning into a
cesspit, especially if you have children, which can only be good
for the family's well-being. Similarly, regular ordering of your
household finances is essential to the family's financial
well-being. Here are some guidelines.
Utilisation of Credit Cards
Do use your credit card, if you
have one, but remember to repay the entire sum, not the minimum
amount, at the end of the month. For the disciplined, prudent
use of credit card makes sound economic sense.
Rule of thumb
Total household expenses should ideally be not more than 33% of
household income. If it is higher than 33%, it's time to cut
down on expenses.
Tips:
* Clean your air-conditioners regularly
* Do your laundry on full load
* Install thimbles on your taps
Delegate Book Keeping Duties to Your Children
If you have children, consider delegating simple tasks such as
data-entry to them. This, not only gives them a sense of
responsibility, but also an opportunity to understand basic
financial principles. Cultivate good financial habits from
young.
File Your Financial Statements
Practically everyone has access to a computer nowadays. We now
have the option to either file the physical bills and statements
or better yet, input everything into a spreadsheet (for a list
of common family expenditure, refer to
http://www.myhappyhouse.com.sg/incomeplan.php). You don't even
have to fork out cash for a decent spreadsheet. There are a
number of free ones on the Internet for you to choose from (e.g.
http://www.openoffice.org).
Notes:
* Get soft copies of bills and statements, if possible, to
save time from entering data.
* Remember to back-up all your information. On top of your
harddisk, you should also save all your files in a secondary
storage media such as a CD-R or thumb drive.
Financial planning
If your household has only one breadwinner, with no one else
able to take on this role, and not much liquid assets (e.g.
savings, shares etc), consider an insurance plan for the money
spinner. Financial woes is not something your family should cope
with in the event the sole breadwinner is incapacitated.
Make It a Habit
The more you procrastinate, the more it piles up. Set aside 30
minutes each week to upkeep your finances.
