Thursday, 31 December 2009

Take Control of Your Household Finances


By Gary Lim

Regular assessment of your household finances is important to the family's financial well-being. Here are some guidelines to control your household finances.

Use of Credit Cards

Use your credit if you have one. However, remember to pay your outstanding balance, not the minimum amount, before its due. Use your credit card wisely.

Rule of Thumb

Household expenses should be lower than 33% of household income. If it is higher, think of cutting down your expenses. Here are some tips to lower your expenses.

1. Cleaning of air-conditioners should be done regularly.

2. When you do the laundry, do it full load.

3. Place thimbles on your taps

Assign Book Keeping Duties to Your Children

If you have kids, share them a simple task in book keeping, like data-entry. Thorugh this, they will learn the basic financial rules. Moreover, it will also give them a sense of responsibility and promotes good financial practice.

Organize Your Financial Statements

List down your finances. Have a notebook or a ledger. If you have an access to a computer, organize the physical bills and statements by putting everything into a spreadsheet. You don't even have to pay cash for a spreadsheet.

Here are some tips in organizing your financial statements.

1. To save time from entering data, get soft copies of bills and statements, if possible.

2. Save your files and have back-up of them. You can use CD-R or thumb drive. Then keep them in a secure place.

Financial Planning

If you have a littlle source of income, and there is only one person working in your family, think of getting an insurance plan for the breadwinner. Financial worries are not something your family should cope with in the event the sole breadwinner is incapacitated.

Make It a Routine

The more you postpone, the more it piles up. Set aside 30-60 minutes each week to maintain your finances.

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