After our Biblical Homemaking Facebook party yesterday, I was struck by a few topics that readers want to know more about. So, I hope to spend the next few days addressing those 3-4 topics.
One of those topics is how to manage your money well. Managing money may not seem like a homeschool topic, but it really is. Most homeschoolers live on a single income, so they must be very careful with their finances.
And let’s face it, finances can cause more problems in a marriage (& family problems & homeschool problems) than any other single issue.
Why do you think Jesus spoke about finances so much? In fact 11 of the 39 parables are about money and 1 of 7 verses in Luke are about money. I think even homeschoolers are concerned about how to manage your money.
So, I thought I’d share my system to managing our personal budget, as well as some resources that might help you. When we were on a tight budget, here are 4 strategies I used.
- Quit Using Credit Cards
OK…I didn’t completely give up credit cards, but I only used them for putting gas in my vehicle. Another alternative is to use a debit card. But, I find that debit cards require me to keep up with every purchase, like a check book. The cash system below works better for me. When I’m out of cash, I can’t spend any more money!
. - Create a Monthly Budget
We wrote down how much money we spend on different categories of spending, such as utilities, gas, groceries, giving, savings and so forth. We are fortunate because we own our home, outright and don’t have a mortgage.Once we listed amounts for each category, we added them up to see how close we came to our monthly take-home pay. If you’re under take-home pay. I recommend allocating a small amount to “fun money” for you & your spouse. The rest should go into savings or a rainy day fund.
. - Get Cash Each Week
Once you have your monthly budget, take out the items you pay once a month, such as utilities. Whatever is left is the amount of money you need from the bank for groceries, household, entertainment, date nights, gifts, etc. Take that monthly amount and divide by four. You now have the amount of cash you need each week for spending.
. - Use Envelopes to Manage My Money
After I got money from the ATM, the cash went into separate envelopes for each category. That was all the money I could spend that week. If I didn’t spend all of my money, it remained in my envelope for the following week. We didn’t go out to eat every week, so money in that envelope would collect so we could take the entire family out at one time.
How do you manage your money? I’d love for you to leave a comment to help all our readers by clicking here.
Also, check out our bundle on Teaching Your Children About Debt & Finances and living debt-free!
NOTE:.
.Question: How do you manage your money? You can leave a comment by clicking here.
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