| Terry Rigg is the editor of the Budget Stretcher Newsletter. The
Budget Stretcher Newsletter is published monthly and is loaded with
information that will save you time and money everyday. Go to
http://www.homemoneyhelp.com for more information. |
For
anyone that is familiar with The
Complete Budget and Bill Organizer, you already know that I
recommend that you use your checking account to pay bills and cash
to cover your household expenses.
With all of the different items that
the average individual or family spends money on, it can be
difficult to keep it separated. You have to have money for
groceries, car gas, school lunches, dining out and entertainment just to name a few.
You could buy a box of envelopes each
payday, sort the money, and stuff it in an
envelope until you need it. Of course, then you would have to have a
safe place to keep it.
If you like the envelope method, then
by all means use it. However, the entire purpose of The Complete
Budget and Bill Organizer is to simplify things. Sitting down at the
kitchen table each payday and sorting cash is far from simple.
It would be much better to try
storing it in your wallet or purse. You would have the money when
and where you need it. There is an element of risk that the money
could be lost or stolen. If you don't feel comfortable with having
that much cash in your wallet and don't have problems handling your
checking account, you could deposit the money for groceries in your
account and write a check for your normal grocery shopping. I
wouldn't write a check for just a milk and bread run.
 For a family, a budget keeper should
be assigned to sort the money. They would be responsible to
distribute the money to other members of the family. To do this you
will have to clearly define who in the family is responsible for
what expenses. Let me give you an example:
A family with a working dad and a
stay-at-home mom with three teenage kids may distribute their money
like this:
Household Income after money for
bills is deposited in checking: $500
Mom is assigned as budget keeper and
keeps $355. Out of this money she is responsible for buying the
groceries, health items, cleaning supplies, the families clothing,
school lunches, pay the paper boy and other expenses around the
house. Mom takes $50 out of this money for herself that she doesn't
have to account to anyone else in the family for.
Mom gives dad $100 of which he is
responsible for paying for his expenses to get back and forth to
work including car gas. Dad can use $50 of his money that he doesn't
have to account to anyone else in the family for.
Mom gives each of the three kids an
allowance of $15. This money can be used any way they choose.
By sorting your money this way, each
member in the family can keep the money in their wallet and all of
the responsibilities are covered. No, you won't know exactly how
much you spend each month on groceries, car gas, etc. The main point
of a simple budget is to make sure you have the money to pay
everything without the hassles like sorting your money into
envelopes and accounting for every penny.
 Mom, as budget keeper, would also be
responsible for keeping the budget, paying the bills and depositing
money in their savings. This does seem like a lot of responsibility
for just one person in the family but, to ensure that their finances
are organized and everything is covered, it is absolutely necessary.
It is also important to make sure dad knows how mom is handling
things so that he can step in if the need arises.
While developing your budget using
the Budget
Worksheet you will know what your household expenses are. Simply
take that list and assign it to a member of the family along with
the money to cover it. If you run into problems and some things
aren't being paid, you will probably have to review your budget and
reassign these responsibilities.
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